Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Baseball been berry berry good to me

Okay, you have to be kind of old to get that one, it is a really old Saturday Night Live bit.  I am talking John Belushi/Gilda Radner old.  Although it was not them in the skit, I cannot for the life of me remember the guy's name, but it was funny.  Baseball season is upon us!  Tyler made the freshman team and Grant will be playing in the Shelby Rec league.  Baseball, baseball, baseball.  Fold up chairs and coolers and snacks and blankets and gatorade and all that jazz in my trunk.  Explaining to Cooper that we really do have to go to their games, and that will be basically five days a week until the middle of June.  Seriously, I am not kidding.  Ty plays tues/thurs, Grant plays mon/wed/sat until the middle of June.  That does not include practices and stuff.

Here is the thing about baseball in Michigan.  You can freeze at a game.  Wind comes up, it's only 40 degrees to begin with, the sun is going down, and  suddenly you are freezing your patootie off on the field.  I have watched the end of games in my van.  You can also boil at a game.  I actually got a sunburn on one side of my body because of the way I was sitting.  Literally just the one half.  Made for some really strange tan lines the rest of the year.  In Michigan this time of year it can snow, hail, rain, tornado, be hot, be cold or just be.  You can sit on a blanket for part of a game and wrap yourself up in said blanket the other half.  Michigan, you gotta love it.

For some families it is baseball, some soccer, some lacrosse, some basketball, some football, some gymnastics, some cheerleading, some the science olympiad.  Whatever the activity, your whole family becomes involved.  That is just the way it is.  Everyone goes and watches the games.  The younger kids complain that they want to go home.  You can promise the moon, they still want to go home.  I have to tell Cooper that being outside for an hour and half will not kill him.  It is actually quite good for him.  

You get to know the other moms and dads.  You learn all the kids names on the teams, even if you won't see them next year except on an opposing team.  You yell and scream and cheer and freak the heck out if your kid is pitching.  Or catching.  Or under a pop fly.  Or let one get through his legs.  Or whatever.  It's great.  And overwhelming and by the beginning of June, I am praying for rain so I don't have to go anymore.  That makes me a bad mom, but there you go.  It's kind of sad when you are so tired from baseball, that you hope they don't make the playoffs.  Sad.  Bad, bad mommy.

So, batter up and all that good stuff.  What sport takes over your life this time of year?  Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

2 comments:

Christmas with CWG said...

The SNL actor is Garret Morris...

We're going into our first spring without baseball, and it's breaking my heart! My boys played last year, but they're really enjoying theater this spring, and we just couldn't do both. We tried last year and ended up leaving rehearsal and changing into bb gear in the back of the van while eating a hotpocket supper. So we still love to go to games, and it's kind of nice to watch without having a blue deathwish...

Baby Z's Mom said...

We aren't there yet, thank goodness. Football season is our family thing. Who knows maybe Miss G. will be a kicker for peewee football one of these days.