Return to the scene of the crime

Paso Robles - we had this tournament circled for the last 52 weeks. It was so much fun last year, and the first team championship Rabbit got with Blue Wave. It seems that no matter what, we get the early games, and we did. In bed early Friday night at the beach house, leave at 6:30 Saturday morning, call time at 7:15. Game 1 was against a team we should have beaten, and we did. 15-4. The boys looked sharp, and played very well. The opponent was a Little League team that was clearly over matched. For game 2 we were playing a team from Visalia. They jumped out early to a 5-1 lead. And then a strange thing happened. Blue Wave started chipping away. A run here, a great defensive play there, and in the fifth inning we had tied at 6. Game was called and ended in a tie. It was some of the best baseball the boys had played together ever. Both teams played excellent, were well coached and played their hardest. A tie was the correct result and we hoped we would not have to see them again.

You may recall my complaining about the weather last year. Yeah, nothing changed. It was dang cold in the morning. 40 degree cold. But at least this time we were prepared. After our two games on Saturday we all met at an RV park where several families were staying for a BBQ. It was a blast. The boys had a chance to unwind while the parents had a chance to watch the Dodgers win. A great time was had by all and the entire team was having fun together.

With a 1-0-1 record we somehow finished third in the seedings, so we had to play an eaxtra game Sunday. 3 games, 3 wins and we would repeat. The first game we were still asleep and then realized that we needed the win. What had been a 3-0 game after 3 was 8-0 mercy after 5. In the semi-finals we drew the Visalia team again. They were by far our toughest opponent in the tournament. Again, we surrendered an early lead 4-0 this time, and again we battled, scraped and clawed back. It was every bit as good a game as the day before and we barely squeaked out an 8-7 win. We were thrilled and it was time to prepare for the championship final.

I try to speak only of the things we can control. And I do go out of my way to not mention the umpires as a general rule. With that disclaimer, you all know what is coming. Blue Wave batted first, and scored 7 runs. 7-0 after one inning. 9-0 after 2. Then the Tournament Director had a meeting with the plate umpire. Seriously, between innings he called the ump over for a discussion. We gave up 10 runs in the bottom of that inning. Not a single pitch was a called strike. Not one. We used 4 pitchers and nothing mattered. The umpire even taunted our coaches being overheard saying "you picked a bad time to fall apart there." It was so egregious that one of our batters was called out on strikes on a pitch that bounced on home plate. The opposing manager looked embarrassed, the parents were furious and there was nothing we could do. After the game the base umpire gave us information on who to contact and pledged that he would file a complaint with the supervisor regarding the other umps conduct. Game ended 10-9. There was nothing we could do.

So, we were runner up, 3-1-1 on the weekend. Not bad at all. On to the personal side of things. Rabbit has learned to hit. And not just "seeing eye singles" but wallops. He went 9-13 on the weekend, including 3 hits in the championship game, driving in 7. His pitching was off, but he is entirely relearning his delivery, so that is not a surprise. His pitching coach wants him to rely on power. When he gave up one hit he immediately fell back and started to throw weakly. This is a process where he will find the right balance of aggression and intelligence. He has the arm of a great pitcher and the head to match. We just need to get them on the same page.

His defense, especially at first, is something special. He saved several outs each game by stretching on balls and getting throws that had potential to be disastrous. He is emerging as a leader, on the field and in the dugout. He is a serious student of the game and plays with intensity and respect. He also loves his mother, eats his vegetables, gets straight A grades and cleans his room. This is one good kid.

Same as it ever was

It is amazing how we perceive improvement. This weekend the team went 1-1-1 and finished third. And I do not believe there is a soul that was there that is satisfied with the result. Rabbit was horrible with the bat, three times striking out with the bases loaded and less than 2 outs. In fact, he was 0-6 with 5 Ks. The regression is frustrating. He did not pitch at all this weekend which was a welcome relief. He played his usual stellar defense and helped to keep the team focused when they needed a boost. So what is the problem here?

I am confused as to what the team is trying to accomplish. There is absolutely no communication between the coach and the parents. In fact, we are now playing with the boys coaching first base. Coach is the only one older than 11 on the field. There are positives and negatives to this, but I am not entirely sure the logic behind this. I had the opportunity to discuss this directly with the coach and can understand his point. However, there are many parents who have not had the opportunity to hear "the other side" of the story. The lack of communication is quickly leading to palpable frustration. I do not see the boys playing to win. I have never been a big Win or Loss guy, but I would at least like to know what we are accomplishing, what lessons are being learned by playing the way we do.

Rabbit played in a scrimmage two weeks ago with another team. They were not good. They were a new group, just formed, and were not really aware of the speed of the game and the intricacies of travel ball. To be sure there was talent on the field, but they struggled mightily against a team that had been together for over a year. What I really enjoyed about that game was the interaction between the coach and the kids, and the coach and the parents. The open dialog was great. That team will struggle for a while, but when the turn the corner, they will do so united.

I am rambling. This weekend is the Paso Robles tourney. This is the one we highlight each year. It is a great weekend, and a real treat. After this weekend we are not playing again until mid-November. This is by our choice. We are paid up through November and will be taking the month of December off. The entire family needs a break right now. The frustrations that were so minimal early in the season are becoming insurmountable. I do not want to make any long term decisions until we get a chance to step back and see things more clearly. If I had to make a decision today we would be shutting it down today. That is not fair to Rabbit, his team, or the other families. We will see it through, but we will look forward to the break.

A hot time in the old town

There was a schedule change at the last moment and we were not going to play until the afternoon on Friday in Henderson. This was great as we could take our time getting to the hotel on Thursday night and not worry about having to get up too early. We spent the first night getting settled in and I went down to the casino to have a few drinks with the other parents. So far, so good.

On Friday we got to the fields an hour early, and it was still 106 degrees at 4pm. Get used to it. When they switched our bracket, we somehow ended up facing 2 of the top 10 seeds in the pool play rounds. These teams were just better than us. It came as no surprise that we lost. What was frustrating was how we lost. Twice we had innings where we allowed 7+ runs. Most of those runs scored on errors and circus plays. On the plus side, Rabbit went 2-3 over the two games. He is getting quite good at waiting on the (admittedly) lousy curveball. He pitched OK, getting tagged when he left the ball up, and fielded his position quite well. He did commit the cardinal sin in RF however, and misplayed a single into a triple. That was during one of those innings.

We knew coming into Saturday that we could play as many as 3 games, or as few as one. Our first game was win or go home. Luckily, we were facing another AA squad. In fact, these opponents were over matched by us. And yet, we struggled to find hits early. We played unbelievable defense and had great pitching, but could not break through. In the 4th, we broke through. Rabbit had 2 hits that game, bringing in 4 runs and sailed one over the CF head. We coasted out to an easy win. The boys were now back on track and looking like a team that came to play. Frustratingly that confidence did not carry over. We lost game 4 to a Majors team and were never even close to competitive. Game 5, our third game in 6 hours, was another "win or go home" contest.

Rabbit started, and was staked to a 2-0 lead in our first at-bat. The entire team was tired and was struggling in the field. Rabbit was tired and leaving the ball up. This is a dangerous combination. It was 4-2 after the first, then 7-2 when Rabbit was pulled with two outs in the second. It ended up 10-2 after 2, and we were preparing for another short game. Then the bats came calling once again. We battled, fought, and left it all out there. When the game was called for time in the 5th it was now 11-7 and we were due up. A tremendous rally. But, a loss none the less.

For the weekend we went 1-4. Three of the 4 teams to beat us won their brackets. The fourth team made the Championship quarterfinals. We had played the toughest teams in the Western US. The boys were exhausted after 6 hours in the 100+ heat, but still had enough energy to enjoy the pool and arcade. A well earned treat. Rabbit went 4-6 on the weekend and pitched fairly well. Working with the new coach is paying off, and we knew he would struggle a bit.

Now the bad news. The communication on this team has broken down entirely. I am very frustrated by many things. We have been with Blue Wave for 1.5 years now and to be certain, Rabbit is a dramatically better player for it. However, the grass is always greener, and we are going to review a few other programs before we commit to the 12U squad. It is not an issue of playing time, field performance or personnel. Rather, I am confused by some decisions that are made, and there is no opportunity to seek clarity. Who knows, it may all be for naught. We have a good group of kids, and parents, and are having fun again. Hopefully that will be enough.

Vegas, Baby

Well, it has been quite a month. After winning their first 6 games together the boys have dropped 5 of 8. Not quite devastating, but a real loss of momentum going into this weekends tournament. The San Clemente tournament was, I fear, the turning point. The boys won the first game in a dominant fashion. 14-4 in 4 innings, sparkling defense, booming offense, even Rabbit got 2 hits. They did not score 14 more runs in the entire tournament. They got sloppy, were not ready to play, and got beat by teams they had dominated previously. Very frustrating. For the first time we could clearly answer no to both important questions. We were not getting better, and we were not having much fun.

Fast forward a few weeks. School is in session, Rabbit is playing flag-football as well as Blue Wave. 3 practices a week of each is really stretching our schedules. Add in private pitching lessons (amazing results so far) and we are exhausted. We did manage to sneak away for a Dodger game this week though. Priorities!

The team is bonding, and the boys like and respect each other. When they play well, they are unbeatable. We have seen them take down AAA and even Majors teams. When they are not focused they can lose to a T-ball squad. We will have to wait and see who shows up this weekend.

I hold absolutely zero expectation for this tournament. I honestly believe that they will lose every game. I also expect they will have some fun, and that we will really enjoy our time. This is a National Championship, and we are not ready to compete at this level. However, it is a reward for the cumulative efforts of the past 12 months. That does not mean we won't get grumpy when we play poorly, more likely we will get over it quicker.

Off to a great start

After going 2-0 on day one we knew we were the 1 seed going into ladder play. Our opponent for the first game was a team we had beaten the day before by a 7-3 score. We got off to an OK start, trailing 1-0 after their half of the first. Run scored on a balk, the first of many questionable balk calls that day. Our boys never gave it a thought. We scored early, and often. The entire team was making good contact and we were scoring runs with ease. In the field we bent, but did not break. Twice the pitchers got out of bases loaded jams without giving up so much as one run. In the bottom of the fourth we scored the decisive runs to win easily 11-1. We were in the championship! Undefeated and playing well. All the parents were stunned, happy and ready for more. The boys were stern, focused and itching to keep going. It was fun to watch.

Rabbit was given the start in the championship. He had been a rock recently, showing top of rotation stuff. Not today though. He was fair, but a little wild. In fact he walked more batters in two innings, 4, than he had in his previous three outings combined. He came out after two innings allowing 3 runs, but tied. His 45 pitches matched his total from a 5 inning game just a few months ago. Today was not his day, but he battled and gave what he had. We scraped a few more runs across and were ahead 6-3 after 3. Then the big bats came calling. The middle of the line up was tremendous, with 3 homers and several extra base hits. One boy hit a ball at least 270' to punctuate a late rally. Headed into the last inning we were ahead 10-5. The first out was made on an incredible diving grab at shortstop. Then Rabbit made an incredible effort at a ball, diving headfirst for a foul that bounced off the heel of his glove. The entire team was focused like I have never seen. The final out was made on a soft liner to second. Blue Wave had won! For the first time they had gone 4-0 in a tournament.

Rabbit was not the star this weekend. In fact, he was merely a passenger aboard the S.S. Blue Wave this weekend. He played tremendous defense at first, and although he was not as effective on the hill he still kept it close. His batting is miserable right now, three times this weekend he watched strike 3 go by on an 0-2 count. But none of that mattered. What mattered was the team picked each other up. Every player contributed, and every player gave what they could. This team should carry this confidence and focus forward. They can be very, very good.

So how do you celebrate a clean sweep in a tournament? With 5 buckets of soft-toss in the batting cage. No rest for the weary, there is always something to improve.

We're putting the band back together

For months it seems we have been waiting for "the team" (10U) to play. After a spring and summer of 10-11 and 9-10 tourneys we had yet to play with the roster that is going to Nevada. We have been a bad team when we are mixed with other ages. No one seems to claim any leadership and it is too easy to find fault with those that are not normally one of "the team." Well, time to put up or shut up. Starting today we have 3 weekends in a row of the 10U team playing tournaments together. After a weekend off it is off to Nevada. If we stink now there is no one to blame but us.

I am going to give the coach (possibly) more credit than he deserves. We are playing in a tournament that features some weaker competition. This is either serendipitous, or a masterstroke of strategy. Each team we face we should be able to beat. And we did today. The team played well. Not outstanding, not ridiculous, not even spectacular. But they kept control of the game and themselves. Every player on the roster pitched an inning. 11 pitchers in 11 innings. We kept errors to an absolute minimum with only one circus play all day long. Rabbit pitched well, but not brilliant. He played excellent at 1B and fair in RF. He was horrible at the plate, but he was not needed. We won the games 7-3 and 5-2. Neither game was particularly close, or ever in doubt.

In fact, I could see the moment when an opponent gave in. I have seen it happen to our boys often enough that I know it when I see it. They are the #1 seed going into Championship play tomorrow. Game time is 1PM and every arm is available. We should be able to get by our first opponent easily. And yet we have faltered many times before against weaker competition. My hope is that they continue to play well, as a team, and grow in their confidence and ability. Our worst case scenario is 2-1 weekend. It has been quite a while since we have done that well. Realistically, we should be in a battle for the title. What a great start for this team as they prepare for bigger and better things.

I hate being right, and I'm glad I was wrong

Sadly, day one of the tournament went as expected. We lost 11-3 in the first game to the team that would eventually win the entire tournament. We had one lousy inning, allowing 8 across in the second. Rabbit played well at first, no errors, and just barely missed a pitch, popping up to RF. Game two was bad. Scary bad. Frustrating bad. The plan was for each pitcher to throw one inning to keep our arms ready for ladder play in the morning. First pitcher did OK, the second pitcher was let down by the entire team. EIGHT ERRORS in the inning meant he had to throw 27 pitches before recording an out. 50 pitches total in the inning. 14 batters, 11 runs scored. It was amazing to watch. And painful. I have seen better plays in T-Ball. The natives (parents) were getting restless. It was not a pleasant time. Sadly, a disproportionate amount of errors were committed by the 8 and 9 year olds. I want to be clear, I do not blame them in any way, shape or form. Rabbit played up last year and I know how frustrated that made the other parents. However, the younger boys became an easy target, and I fear a scapegoat for our failings.

Rabbit drilled a ball in his first at bat of game 2. Absolutely smoked it. Hardest he has hit a ball in months. Sadly it went right into the glove of the pitcher who was diving out of the way. A tough out, and his second hard hit ball of the day. He was walked on 4 pitches next time up.

After the marathon inning finally ended Rabbit came in to pitch the third. A quick come-backer, strikeout and then pop-up got him a 1-2-3 inning on only 12 pitches. He was grumpy and blowing the ball past people. I am still confused how the same teams, same defense and same offense could produce such a wildly different result from one inning to the next. The defense was great for Rabbit, but horrible for the other pitchers. Inconsistency was a hallmark of the squad this weekend.

So here we were, again, on a Saturday night, knowing Rabbit had to pitch lights out to keep the tournament alive. I was frustrated, bordering on outright anger. It is tiring watching this team lose by 10+ runs every time out. We keep holding out hope that the "10s team" will finally play together and all will be well. My biggest concern is what happens when we do get the players we want and we still get skunked? I asked Rabbit if he was getting frustrated as well. With all the seriousness he could muster he said "no." He would lose 30-0 every game and be happy, just so long as he was playing. If he was not upset by it, then I pledged I would not be either.

Sunday game and, as expected, Rabbit has the ball and will throw so long as he is effective. First inning took 7 pitches. Second only 9. He did not have A+ stuff, but was very effective. He also picked a kid off, not noteworthy in and of itself except for the fact we recorded the out! That is the first time in the last 5 pickoffs that we have actually got the player out. The opposing team stopped leading off for 3 innings after that play. One thing the opponents were good at is cheering. Little League stuff mostly, but the odd softball scream thrown in once in a while.In the 4th inning they figured out we call him Rabbit and screamed out "Silly Rabbit Trix are for Kids" as he started his windup. The umpire called a strike, called time, and instructed the bench that they could not scream as he was in process of releasing the ball. Their bench thought they were the most clever kids ever. Rabbit struck out the side on 9 pitches. He was not impressed.

After five innings we were ahead 5-2 and Rabbit had thrown 58 pitches. When he went to the mound again for the sixth I knew this was going to end quickly. He retired the side on 7 pitches for a 6IP complete game. 6H, 2ER, 0BB and 6K all on just 65 pitches. It was a dominant performance. The defense played great behind him and he worked fast and accurate. The zero walks is what impressed me most of all. We had won! An odd feeling lately. Our win put us into the Silver Division (losers bracket) Championship against the same team we had lost to in game two on Saturday. Very long story short - we had too many walks, too many errors and too many pitches. We staged a great 5 run rally in the last inning, including a two-run single for Rabbit who later came around to score, but still ended up losing 13-8.

After the games the coach gave Rabbit the team trophy. It must be 3 feet tall. The coach wants to start a new tradition of giving the MVP the hardware. Rabbit felt good and cleared space on his bookshelf for it. The grumpy part of me says that we are 3-7 in out last 10 with 6 losses by "mercy" rule. Two of our three wins come from Rabbit throwing complete games. But this is truly a team game. They win together, and lose together. Rabbit is stepping up and grabbing a leadership role. He loves the game and plays hard. It is a good example for all.

Now to the title. My expectation was zero for this weekend. And that is what we got. A lousy effort and lousy play. But Rabbit would lose every game and still wake up smiling. He could strike out every time and still get up and take his cuts. And yet, he has shown that he can and will lead this team. He will help whoever he can however he can. And that will make him a better person. Not bad for a kid who turns 11 today.

What will the future hold?

Zero expectations for this weeks tourney. 0-3 with 2 mercy losses is my guess. Not having a good time right now. The good news is that we are playing 10 minutes from home, and will not play until 1 PM on Sunday. Somehow we are playing with two 8 year old players while some 10s are not on the roster. I am confused, but slightly hopeful. The roster for the National Tourney in Nevada looks very strong. No point in freaking out, but we will have to start making decisions for next year in the next 90 days. Maybe it is time to unplug for a bit.

Rabbit needs glasses. This is no surprise since both the Mrs. and I are blind as bats. This might just help at the plate. We will be seeing an eye doctor next week. Otherwise, Rabbit can finally grip a circle change, and it is very effective right now. It will be fun to watch that develop.

Had a great road trip to Albuquerque. Saw two AAA games and got to play with my 16 yo nephew. He is becoming quite a solid player and he and Rabbit had a blast together. Rabbit is itchy though, wanting to play even more than he already is. His enthusiasm is overwhelming. It is all I can do to reign him in. Relax, breathe deep. He is only 10, for 4 more days at least.

A tail in search of a head

Let me be blunt.

Today

SUCKED

100 degrees, two painfully easy games squandered to rookie mistakes and no one accepting responsibility. This team needs a leader. Since there are no volunteers, we have let Rabbit know that he is faced with the unwelcome task of being an on field general. The boys simply do not come prepared to play. They practice well, but come game time they are on another planet. Rabbit needs to help them focus,or get those who refuse to focus where they will do the least harm. The good news is that we cannot play worse.

1-5 today, with a great RBI single, and 4 Ks. Horrible in the field, mediocre on the hill and terrible with the bat. We always expect July tourneys to be rough, but this was embarrassing. No point in dwelling on the past. I am interested in what tomorrow brings.

Found a huge whole in his swing and got to work on that. But that is like using a squirt gun on a forest fire. The problems facing this team require more than a visit to the cage.

The end of Little League!

We were bad parents. We took the weekend off to go to Morro Bay and sleep in and be lazy. We had planned this trip about 6 weeks ago. It turns out that this past Sunday was the first game of Tournament of Champions. So we missed game 1. Oh well. The Bruins won and we were back in town for game 2 on Monday night. Rabbit grounded sharply to third in his first at bat, played good defense in RF, and then misplayed a pop up in LF. With no outs and the bases loaded in the third inning coach had him come in to pitch. Rabbit hates coming in as a reliever, especially in situations like this. But, he did his best, and got ground balls. And more ground balls. A few strike-outs were mixed in as well. In fact, in his three innings pitched not a single ball was hit in the air, or past the infield. The 7 errors didn't help any. We lost 5-0 and now are super duper done with Little League. Except for Closing Ceremonies on Monday. Ugh.

The reason we are done is because I told the league that we were not interested in having Rabbit play with the 9-10yo All Stars. After last years overwhelmingly negative experience I already had a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, Rabbit would be the only person on that team who had not played in AAA. And I was not overwhelmed by the person who was coaching. This is where I become a world-class LL A-hole parent. It was an absolute no-win scenario for the kid. If he goes out and strikes out every batter, he is supposed to because he played in Majors. If he hits every ball over the fence, again, he is supposed to. But if he doesn't dominate then he is open to ridicule and questions of "who does this kid think he is?" from other players and parents. We had made our plans for the summer already, and those plans did not include All Stars. It was an easy decision,and we are satisfied with the outcome. As expected, once I turned down the 9-10 team we were disqualified from the 11 or 12 team. In fact, his LL coach tried to get him for the 12 team and was denied by the board. I completely understand, and endorse that decision. No matter what, he was in demand, and it is a compliment that so many coaches wanted him to play for them.

When we began Little League this season we wanted Rabbit to be able to contribute. By the end of the season he was the number 2 starting pitcher, starting 1B and clean-up hitter. He met and exceeded his goals and had a great season. He should be proud of his accomplishments.

Now that we are back to baseball 3 nights a week instead of 6 we can get back to the fun stuff. The OC Flyers home opener is tonight. Rabbit will be a bat boy for game 1 of a DH on Wednesday. Then, starting the 19th he is with his cousin in the Central Valley for 10 days of swimming pools and goofiness. It is good to be 10, and it should be.

Albuquerque later this summer, and Blue Wave tourneys from now until December. I will have more about Blue Wave later, the drama is thick. But not today.

3 Day Weekend - Days 2 and 3

Day 2 was predictably frustrating. After losing the first game on Saturday our team settled into the feeling that we were smaller, less experienced and not as good as our competition. Suffice to say we lost both games, but a glimmer of hope started to flicker in game 2. We played very well and actually held a lead. Rabbit finally broke through with a bases loaded RBI single and pitched well. His coach wanted to keep his pitch count very low, as usual, and throw him mainly in the championship rounds. He threw 17 pitches in the first inning and was done on the mound for the day. Even with two losses, we could see small adjustments being made and the team improving.

That was the good part. The not so good part is the frustration, both amongst players and parents, that was palpable after losing 3 straight. Throw the additional confusion of who will get the 12 year old team, who will coach the 11s etc. it quickly becomes a grumpy crowd. This team needed a good win to help everyone feel better.

On Monday it was single elimination win or go home time. Coach asked Rabbit to start and go as far as he could. On our way to the park we discussed keeping his pitch count down and letting his defense get the outs. We set an imaginary, arbitrary and ridiculously low target of 4 pitches per batter. Our opponent was another team that had struggled and we were anxious to get going. Rabbit took control immediately. In the first inning he drove in a run on a shot down the RF line. With a 1-0 lead the boys took the field defensively. On the second pitch thrown a ball was hit that got through 2B and the runner took a big turn and tried for second. He was thrown out by 3 steps. A strike out and a pop-up later and we were out of the first inning on 7 pitches. We scraped another run across in the second, and again retired them in order, this time on 5 pitches, a new personal best. One more run for us in the third and then Rabbit struck out 2 and got a tremendous grab on a foul ball by the 1B. His second strikeout he threw a changeup that was ridiculous. The umpire was amazed, the poor hitter looked dejected and the opposing coach had a look on his face as if to say "I don't know either." He is throwing that pitch for outs now more often, and when it is good, it is completely unhittable. As usual, we scored 1 run in the fourth. Rabbit got the first two outs before walking a batter but then that runner was caught stealing. We broke it open in the fifth, scoring 4 runs against a clearly resigned defense. If we could hold on and not allow a run we would win 8-0 via mercy rule. Rabbit turned it up and threw 8 pitches in the inning, striking out the last batter for the CG shutout. ON 45 PITCHES! 5 IP, 1H, 0R, 5K, 1BB. He faced the minimum and no runner made it to second base. He also drilled a huge sac fly to RF. It was a great game for the entire team.

We were now in the semi-finals and faced a dramatically tougher opponent. We had some lapses in the field and fell behind early. The other team chipped away and finally the game ended at 9-1 in the fifth. The boys who had been so sharp in the morning almost seemed relieved that it was OK to lose one. Not in a negative sense, but that we had competed with some of the best teams out there. The mood was decidedly more upbeat that afternoon and we headed home for a pool party next door.

More tourneys coming up, plus LL ToC and possible All Stars. It just never ends.

3 Day Weekend - Day 1

Between LL and Blue Wave we played 6 games over the three day weekend. It marked the end of the Little League season and the beginning of tournament time. It is amazing to see how much confidence and momentum matter in this game. We witnessed both ends of the spectrum, invincibility and the complete inability to do anything correctly. Breathe deep and remember, they are only 10.

Saturday morning was in Huntington Beach with Blue Wave. We were playing in the 11U bracket, but had nearly as many 9 year old players (3) as 11 year old players (5). We also had 15 on the roster. Since the coach has every boy hit, we had a 15 man batting order. In our first game we faced a very good team that had all 11 year old players and was a favorite to win the whole event. The game went about as expected. We knew that they could hit our pitching, but our defense was not adjusting to where the balls were being hit. Also, with over half our roster used to playing on smaller fields (46' mound and 65' bases, whereas this tournament was played at 50' and 70') we were unable to play the strong defense we needed. The game ended at 9-0 after 5 innings.

Jumped into the car and then off to Santa Ana for Little League City Tournament. Our coach for LL had his game plan, and was not going to deviate from it for any reason. Our starting pitcher, who was excellent all season long, did a good job, but was not as sharp as he had been. In fact, in the fourth inning he threw 30 pitches. The high pitch count would come into play and he would need to be replaced. With our team leading 4-2 in the bottom of the last inning our pitcher had finally met his number and needed to be replaced. With a runner on first and no outs the coaches son came in to close out the game. The problem is that he throws curveballs, almost constantly. This meant an extreme workload on our catcher to block the balls and prevent steals. Well, a walk and an error later, it is now a one run game. Then tied. Then the winning run for the opponent came across on a wild pitch. I lose my ability to second guess when I declined to manage. However, a control pitcher makes more sense to me in that scenario. And we had 4 of them ready to go.

Oh well. The good news is that we are out of that tournament and don't have to sweat juggling practices and games mid-week. An anti-climactic ending to a positive LL season. Rabbit played well in both games, but is still not finding hits. They will come.

The best team in the majors.

Well, the Dodgers are still winning. But this is not about them. This is about the Santa Ana NW Little League Major Bruins. After a 2-5 start they rallied hard, winning 10 of 11 to win their division. Rabbit played a big part and finished the season as a starting pitcher and batting clean up. What a tremendous accomplishment. The team has really played well of late and hopes to carry some strong momentum into the ToC and City Tournament schedules. His coach has also alerted us to the fact that he will nominate Rabbit for the 11U All Stars and even suggested that he may take him for the 12U team. Quite the recognition for a kid playing up a level.

Hitting has come back down to earth, but we noticed a slight change in the stance. Upon correction he was back to hitting the ball hard and picked up 4 RBI in his last 3 games. His pitching is great right now with a real zip on the fastball. Additionally, the change-up is un-hittable and keeping the front elbow high has really added to the movement of his other pitches. Of all things, it is his defense at 1B, usually his strong suit, that has been suffering. We spent some extra reps on the bag and are making the adjustments. For whatever reason he does not like to get the ball into the webbing of the glove, but rather trap the ball against the "paddle" edge. A few more reps and he will be back to his usual sparkling defense.

Travel ball gets serious this weekend with a 3 day tournament. We have the potential between City Tournament and Travel to play 9 games in 3 days. YIKES! The reality will be much more reasonable. I am astonished at Rabbit's progress in the last 12 months. Mostly, I am amazed he still has the same enthusiasm and drive. Even more so were that possible. It is fun to be a part of his world as he grows. I do need to remind myself that he is still 10. It is very easy to forget when he handles himself so maturely.

Summer plans are shaping up nicely. Flyers start in 3 weeks, road trip to ABQ looks like the end of July, and NCAA regionals coming in the next two weeks. Throw in a Dodger game or 3 and we are set for a few months. While not everything is perfect, who cares. The game is still fun, and he is improving daily. It is hard to believe it has been a year already since I started this project. I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months bring.

A statement game

Little League is worse than the mob. Just when you think you are out, they pull you back in. Rabbit was starting against a team in our division that was within 1 game of us for first. With only 3 to play this was a must win for us to move on into Tournament of Champions. I was quite surprised when Coach told me that Rabbit had the ball. Coach was hoping to get 1-2 innings and then let the No. 1 come in and finish the game. What he got from Rabbit was nothing short of exceptional. 4 IP, 7K, 1BB, 1H, 0ER, 57 pitches. All of this against a team coached by a manager who said at the draft that no 10 year old should be in Majors.

Rabbit was doing a great job of changing speeds, raising and lowering eye-levels and spotting the ball perfectly. He was Maddux-like only in the sense that they were taking balls down the middle and swinging at things 6-12" off the plate. He struck out the side in the third, including his best friend from across the street (3 pitches) and the boy who 2 weeks ago told him that he had no business being in Majors and was only there because I made the league draft him, also on 3 pitches. In the fourth he got a friend, and former teammate on a fantastic sequence. Change-up for a called strike, swung and missed a high and outside fastball, then screwed himself into the ground swinging on a change-up that bounced twice on the way to the plate. He also made two strong fielding plays (we had been working on fielding the position lately) and managed to not slide head first into home this time.

That was the good news. Now the frustrating stuff. The officiating has passed bad, blew straight through awful, and is almost beyond embarrassing. Strike zones change from pitch to pitch and factual calls are missed several times a game. 6 of the 7 strikeouts Rabbit got were swinging so the opposition has nothing to complain about there. However, it is a joke what the boys have to deal with behind the plate. More bad news, we are now firmly atop the league standings and look to be facing City Tournament, ToC and All-Stars. So much for this being the last week of Little League. Rabbit's Coach has nominated him for the 11U All-Star team. A real accomplishment and we will see if he gets accepted. We highly doubt we would accept the honor since he wants to play with Blue Wave more and was incredibly frustrated by last years All-Star experience, but it is still a tip of the cap to all of his hard work.

We are in the middle of a stretch right now where we have baseball 10 days in a row and 13 out of 17. In the midst of all of that Rabbit is also doing State Testing at school and is headed into his classroom an hour early each morning for study-hall. I am nothing short of amazed at his focus and resiliency. I am exhausted and I just watch.

Blue Wave is coming nicely, big tournament over Memorial Day in Huntington Beach. OC Flyers open at home on June 9 and the Dodgers are starting to fall back to earth. I may have a comment on Manny later, but for now I just don't care enough to put it in writing.

It's all about the kids... and other lies.

First, the recent updates. Rabbit is seeing the ball amazingly well. He has not struck out in his last 15 or so at bats. A few hits, including a nice one to center in tonight's LL game, and a few hard liners right at people. He has worked very hard and now has a stance and swing that is providing some power. Fun stuff.

On the hill we are working on driving more off the front elbow. To help accomplish this we are turning the glove hand palm up while in the wind up. This is forcing him to keep the hand high and creates a nice lever-whip motion on the way down. Initially it has led to some more pop on the ball without sacrificing any control. In his LL game he threw 2 inning with no hits, 2 strikeouts, no walks and no runs. The very next day he faced an 11U majors team. From 50' (he had thrown from 46' the day before) he went 2 innings with 6 hits, 3 ER and no walks with 1 k. A very respectable outing.

Now buckle up, double barrel screed coming.

Little League - Get over yourselves coaches. You embarrass yourselves with petty tyranny and selfish playground antics. Tonight a coach waited until 5 minutes after game time to threaten to take his team off the field unless the umpire was changed. The umpire had already been changed once. I have previously railed on the officiating and it is not getting any better using local, rather than District, umps. The three managers in our division are all trying to out clever and out maneuver each other. It is stupid. Let the boys play. These kindergarten mind games are a joke. The other coach was tossed before the game even started. He missed a gem. 2-0 in our favor. The umpire, while not great, had no effect on the outcome. Now the coach missed that game, and the next by rule. All of this posturing for a berth in Tournament of Champions? Get over yourself. The kids got it right tonight. The adults, both dugouts, looked foolish. Knock it off already.

Travel - I really think we have had enough "character building" for the spring. It is time to let our boys play other 10U teams. I realize that it is very difficult to balance two squads covering 8-12 year old players. I know that everyone wants a chance. I also know how good the team can be when they get a chance to play 12-15 games together. I really feel that "rec ball" (LL and Pony) is killing any momentum we garner. I cannot wait for the summer season when we can play the same 12 boys in their natural positions. Facing 11U teams is fine, but getting run out of the building by an 11U majors team does nothing to improve the squad. I actually fear it will leave a bad taste in the mouths of new players. And finally, I look forward to the day when we can select our roster, rather than having to rely on who is available. Call me an elitist scumbag, but there are simply some boys who are not on par with the core of the team.

It is very easy from the stands. Every call I make is correct, and I never mess up on positioning or bating order. One of the true revelations in my life is that I no longer coach. I understand the task that the coaches face, and I remain supportive. But every now and then I just want to scream!

It is early

The Dodgers are in first, Rabbit's LL team has won 6 of 8 and is now in first and Blue Wave played two great games this weekend. After 8 days off it has been full speed ahead. I am exhausted, slightly sunburned and pretty happy.

Little League keeps rolling. Rabbit is hitting fairly well right now. He did end up playing 2B this past game for a few innings due to a preponderance of lefties and only 9 boys showing for the game. The deeper we get into the season the more convinced I become that this is our last year. Things are going well and yet we are still frustrated. I (semi)-secretly hope that we have an early exit from city tournament and we have made the decision to not participate in All Stars if invited. Blue Wave is his home for baseball for the remainder of the year. We are probably about 30 or so days away from being done with LL.

Blue Wave played this weekend against a "majors" level team. It was nice to play 10U vs 10U for the first time in a while. We have about 6 or 7 new players trying out and some inexperience led us to allowing some runs early on. However, we re-focused, made some good plays and finished game 1 losing 8-3. This was a well played game and showed glimpses of quality. Rabbit went 2-2 with a walk while batting third. He looked strong.

Rabbit started game 2 and left the ball up a few times allowing 2 runs on the first. In the second he kept getting ground balls but errors proved very costly. As the group plays together more this will become less and less of an issue. After his two innings he had allowed 5 (2 earned) and left trailing 5-3. Then the wheels fell off. We had difficulty finding outs, and the strike zone, for our later pitchers. The game degenerated and mercifully ended at 13-21. Rabbit got some time in RF and misplayed two balls to him, but made a nice grab on the third. It can be painful to watch, but the best way to improve is by doing. Of the first 10 balls to RF I would expect him to play 3-4 well. Of the next ten, he should play 7-8 well, and so on.

I am honestly ready for a break. The six-days-a-week is taking its toll. Rabbit needs to see his swing doctor, but we simply do not have a free day each week. Oh well, school is winding down, LL will be over soon and in the next few months I will be complaining about how boring the summer is.

Spring Break!

We are smack dab in the middle of spring break. Depending on if we got to practice tonight we may have as much as 8 days off in a row! While I relish the break, it comes at a bad time as Rabbit is playing very well right now.

Saturday he got the start with the LL team and was dominant from the first batter. He pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, no walks and 6 K's on only 47 pitches. He also laced a textbook single over the 2B head. After starting LL 0-12~ish he is now 3 for his last 5. We finally got a chance to play with Blue Wave again on Sunday. The coach kept the 10U together to play the second game of a double header against an 11U team. We played well and really looked sharp. Rabbit played 1B and LF. Since this was the first time in a game for many players the coach was moving kids around. We had some pitchers look great, and one or two who will do better next time. At the end we lost by three. The 10U had a closer game than the 11U!

Saturday night was spent watching Fullerton play UCI with Rabbit and two of his friends. There is something truly captivating to me about a ballpark. It felt odd being in the bleachers since our Flyers seats are front row, but it was a great time regardless. The Dodgers beat Jake Peavy opening day and I am in heaven. It is a great time of year. Even if the Dodgers did lose last night. Sigh.

OK, we made it this far

Little League is bumping along. The boys have won two of three and are now 3-5. My frustrations grow however with the inconsistency of play, coaching and officiating. I knew this was going to be an issue going in and have no one to blame. However, we are now playing ball six days a week. I just wish were more satisfied with the results. Rabbit is playing well, and most impressively hitting again. He has not pitched as frequently or as many pitches lately. That is a real positive. Also, after Saturday we do not have another LL game for 2 weeks. We are ready for a break.

I think my real frustration lies in the dichotomy of LL versus travel. The attitude, of both the players and the parents, is so markedly different. Understand that in both teams everyone wants to improve. All the players are trying and the parents are supportive. However, there is a large difference in commitment level between the teams. We had tried to approach LL as a "social" activity with little or no stress about quality of play. Rabbit, however, knows only one way to play this game. He is sometimes having difficulty remembering how much fun he is supposed to be having. This is frustrating because even after getting "mercied" 3 games in a row on Blue Wave he always had a smile and something positive to say.

Blue Wave has been frustratingly quiet. A few rainouts and last minute cancellations mean we have not played with them in nearly a month. We have one game with them this Sunday against a team we had previously beat by 20. It will be a good opportunity to build some team confidence and try out the new players on the squad. It is fun to see Rabbit as a "veteran" on this team. His quality of play is up now that he has stopped growing as much. He again looks comfortable in all aspects of the game.

As loathe as I am to say it publicly, I think a week or two off will do us all some good. MLB starts Sunday (without the Reds, Bud Selig and ESPN deserve their own circle of hell) and we will spend Saturday night watching Fullerton play UC Irvine. A few nights of having dinner as a family and thinking about something different will help tremendously.

It's been a while, time to rant

I was concerned about the effect of playing both Little League and travel ball would have on Rabbit. The six days a week has taken a slight toll, and I have slowly seen some bad habits creeping back. That being said, I am amazed at the dedication he has shown. In the midst of all of this craziness he has maintained his grades at the highest level and still manages to have fun in his spare 6 minutes a day.

So what is the problem?

The kid is 10. He is not supposed to be in Majors. That is usually for 11 and 12 year olds. I wanted him to be up with the better players. I wanted him to be challenged. And, selfishly, I wanted him to be out of pressure situations. I was perfectly happy for him to play 2 innings of outfield and sit the rest of the time. Well, he is firmly entrenched, after only 4 games, as a pitcher and 1B. Still no problem. However, last night he threw 72 pitches over 3 innings. That is a large number. I am frustrated that between the 13 other players we could not find as good an option. No big deal. It is baseball.

However, there is a significant difference between throwing a ball 60 miles per hour and knowing how to pitch. Rabbit can pitch. He cannot throw the ball past kids at this level. He can move a ball around a strike zone and hit the catcher's glove every time. Several of the opposing pitchers last night were throwing the ball as hard as they could, with half of the attempts ending up in or near the strike zone, but the other half hitting the backstop, scorers window, mascot, dugout, etc. That type of irregularity makes it difficult to string together a series of at bats that you can learn from.

And speaking of strike zones, let's spend a minute with the officials. They are painfully unqualified. I can understand missing a judgment call. But these people are often missing technical violations, and the occasional flat out wrong ruling. I want to be clear, I do not feel that they are biased, merely incompetent. At one stretch last night, between the two teams, 21 consecutive pitches that were not swung at were called balls. For two innings the only time a strike was called was if the batter swung. Meanwhile, both pitchers are hitting their targets and both benches were going crazy. Plays on the bases are being called from behind home plate. The umpire did not even make an attempt to position himself properly. Or to pay any attention. Twice players were caught off bases and tagged, but allowed or instructed to return to the base because the ump missed the play. I should understand that we are not getting pros, and that they are doing the best they can. Their best is not nearly good enough to be called competent. Luckily, the umps have yet to decide the outcome of a game, but it is only a matter of time.

Finally, I am still stunned that at this level, when most of the boys have been playing for 3-6 years, at the lack of respect for the game. Whether it is not bringing equipment to the practice or worse yet a game, or bending and breaking rules to get an edge it is frustrating to see how the little league game is played. Players cannot leave the base until the ball crosses home plate. With one umpire, especially of the quality listed above, it is not uncommon for a player to break early and be halfway to the next base by the time the catcher receives the ball. Last night a player from our team scored by sliding between the legs of the opposing catcher. The ball was still in the outfield when the player crossed the plate. I have also seen catchers, in full gear, dive into players coming toward the plate. This is dangerous for both players. And please, it is only the 4th game, how could you possibly have lost equipment by now?

I was unsure if we were going to play Little League this year. We will finish this out, but I am not seeing much hope for next year. Travel ball is not a panacea, some mythic Garden of Eden where everything is right all of the time. It is, however, a much closer approximation to the game of baseball.

Opening weekend

Saturday was the opening game for Little League and Sunday was our first Blue Wave game of 2009. We were excited to get going and a bit nervous to see how it would all go. The short answer is things went well, but we know what we need to work on.

Saturday in Little League we opened against the defending Majors division champs. The Bruins put 7 runs across in the first including Rabbit (hitting 7th) scoring on a passed ball. He had previously walked on a full count and stole 2nd and 3rd. In the field he started at 1B and played the first four innings there. The only action he saw there was when he made a good stretch to get a fast runner on a bang-bang play. After 4 innings we were ahead still 7-4. In his second at bat he struck out swinging at a ball above his head. That was tremendously out of character for him, and he was a little surprised that he had swung.

Rabbit came in to pitch the 5th and faced 4 batters retiring the side on 15 pitches. He really surprised his coaches who were not thinking he would be that effective. In fact, they kept him in to pitch the last inning with a 4 run lead. In the last of the sixth Rabbit got an out on the first pitch on a fly to right. From there no ball left the infield. A few dropped pop ups and misplayed grounders led us to a bases loaded, two out, one run ballgame. After running the count to full Rabbit threw a textbook called strike three to end the game and preserve the win. It was a great way to start.

For Sunday we arrived for game 2 of a double header with the 11U team. Blue Wave had won the first game by a mercy rule 14-2. As usual, but a surprise since this was the 11U team, Rabbit started at 1B. Again he was batting 7th and came up in the second inning with bases empty and two outs.. He tapped the second pitch to 2nd base for an easy out. He knew he was ahead of the pitcher, and I could see the gears of his mind working. In the bottom of the second he made a great scoop of a pick off attempt to retire the runner. He looks good over at 1B. In the third inning we blew the game open again with 10 runs. Rabbit came up with a runner on 2nd and drilled the 1-1 pitch back up the middle for an RBI single. Another strong play in the field at first and the team coasted to a 14-9 win. Two good wins in two days.

A great start, and it surely was time for a great weekend. 2 practices Monday, game Tuesday, practice Wednesday and Thursday and game Saturday. I am tired already and it has not started yet.

LL 1 1 0 0 1 1
BW 2 0 1 1 0 0

Spring forward!

Little League opens this weekend. We also have a Blue Wave game on Sunday. Two practices Monday, one on Wednesday, one Thursday, and a mid-week game to be announced. Yipes!

Rabbit is playing well after shaking off a slight cold. His hitting is coming together and he is throwing the ball very well. His pitching is solid, but he is leaving the ball up in the zone. It still strikes me as silly that we are having these discussions about a 10 year old. He loves playing and that is enough.

So far we have been pretty true to our idea of LL just being a silly, fun time with no pressure. That being said, I fully expect Rabbit to be starting 1B as well as pitching some. At Blue Wave he is firmly planted at 1B and starting pitcher. It will be interesting to see how Rabbit adjusts to being used as a reliever. Historically he has struggled in those situations.

As a fan I am thrilled to see the World Baseball Classic starting, spring training in full swing and am preparing for the high-school/college/minor league seasons. Our big trip this year is planned as a road trip to ABQ to visit my Father-in-law and nephew and catch some AAA Dodgers this summer.

Other than the usual chaos we are currently looking for a private school for next year. Things are not quite crazy enough so we thought we should add something extra into the mix. As I have said before, I need professional help.

Well, at least it stopped raining.

The tough part of playing on two teams right now is the scheduling. If everything goes according to plan we will have had baseball 9 days in a row by next Wednesday. And on at least 2 of those days we had direct conflicts between LL and travel. A very busy time for sure.

Speaking of Little League Rabbit is getting a lot of reps at first base. I would not be too surprised to see him playing there a bit this season. He is running very well and is making decent contact. As usual, his hitting will take a lot of concentration for now.

Travel team is now in the Sunday Double-Header set up. Every other Sunday we play 2. A nice idea and very low key. I am looking forward to those starting this week. Other than the previously noted we have mostly been waiting out the rain.

I heard my first bit of spring training games on the radio today. The anticipation of starting the season(s) is amazing. I can hardly wait.

Rain Rain Go Away

I am not sure why I am surprised about the weather anymore. It seems like every year we lose valuable practice time before the LL season to rain. This year is no exception. Rabbit has had just 2 practices with his LL team and one with Blue Wave in the last 3 weeks. We have seen 6 practices and a tournament rained out. We need the rain, but Rabbit is going slightly stir crazy.

The LL Bruins (like UCLA) look to be a good team this year. The quality of play seems consistent with the Travel Ball Rabbit has been seeing for the past year. I like and respect the coach and am enjoying watching the kids work together. Rabbit seems to be taking the majority of drills at 1B and will have lots of innings there. Due to the weather we have not had anyone work out at pitcher yet. I know the coach wants him to throw. As a double bonus, we have SIX left handers on the team, out of 13 players. I am pretty sure that violates some law somewhere.

Blue Wave is back to being a 10U team after some comings and goings. I think this will work best and we are looking forward to our Sunday double headers which will start in March. Between now and then we need to get Rabbit back into the cages. His swing is not great right now. My big fear is that he gets into some bad habits that will be tough to correct.

Otherwise we are thrilled that MLB camps opened this past weekend. I am scanning the papers daily to see which rookies are making an impact and which veterans are about to lose a job. Who needs soap operas when you have clubhouse gossip.

Be careful what you wish for

After a Blue Wave practice Rabbit and I were enjoying a dinner of burritos and tacos when we got the phone call from the Little League coach. He had been drafted into majors. This was very exciting for him and a reward for his hard work. Now the tough part. He knows he will not be the best anything on this team. I suspect lots of "pine" time for him and fighting for innings. However, he can certainly handle the pitching and will play to the best of his ability every chance he gets.

We got lucky with his coach as well. And to top it off, the team is the UCLA Bruins, one of Rabbit's "go to" schools. We have practice tomorrow when we get to see who else is on his team. I am sure we will know a few at least. Rabbit has a lot of work to do to prove that a 10YO can play in the majors. I know he will be up to the task.

Little League, Drama and Spring Training

We had Little League tryouts this past week. Rabbit wanted to be considered for Majors as a 10 year old. Majors is usually the 11-13 year old boys. I confirmed with the LL Board that it would be OK for him to try out for the higher league. Rabbit did well and looked like he would fit in nicely with the other players we saw try out. If there are 4 teams in the division I would expect that he would play in Majors. With only 3 I do not know if there is an open slot for a ten year old once all the 12 and 11 players are selected. Rabbit was upset that he did not do better in his tryout. He hit weakly and overthrew from the outfield. I am not too worried. He has played in this league for 4 years. Most of the coaches know him by now and understand what type of a player he is. If he does stay down in AAA this year I expect him to play lots of catcher and outfield.

Back to Blue Wave. As the "rec" ball season starts our numbers keep dwindling. We had always expected to play Sundays in the 10yo bracket. After the previous drama of the 11yo team becoming an 11/12 we lost, collectively, enough players that we are now looking at a 10/11 team. This is a real shame. The 10yo team was coming together nicely, making the finals 3 tournaments in a row. From that core group of 10 players, only 4 are still with the team. The main concern for now is where will Rabbit play. The 11 team has two good 1B. I expect that Rabbit will find some time on the bench as well as in the outfield. I like the kids, and parents, that still are with the team. I still feel that this is the right spot to be in. And I know from experience that once Little League ends we will have many more players. Our goal for the next 4 months is to have some fun and try to get as many games in as possible.

MLB Spring Training starts in 2 short weeks. I can hardly wait. We have all been watching the free agent moves and arguing about who did the best. I expect the Dodgers to be consistently mediocre. However, their infield is set for 3 years and looks fantastic. I also met with the OC Flyers last week. We have renewed our season tickets with them and are anxious to see them defend their GBL title. We have a great year ahead of us and are all excited at what the future holds.

Quick hits before the crazy gets going full swing

We built a "batting cage" set up in the garage this week. For now it is merely a net and some turf. Eventually I want to get a good floor, most likely rubber mats and finish it with a soft-toss machine. We like the results so far and it is a fun way to spend an evening. I myself have even spent a few buckets in there. My back is helping me to remember that I am old.

Little League try-outs are coming this month. Rabbit is going to be considered for Majors even though he is 10. We had a chance to play some pick up ball at the park with several boys who have played or will play in Majors and Rabbit fit right in. If for any reason he returns to AAA I know most of the coaches at that level and know that he will have fun and do well with them. Little League is just for giggles this year. Who knows, Rabbit may spend his time at catcher.

We are spending our nights watching MLB Network or in the cage. It is a blast right now and I am glad to see Rabbit full of enthusiasm. We have a brutal 6 months ahead of us with 6 days a week of baseball being the norm. I am very interested to see how we respond to the commitments.

Enough time off, back to the grind

We have had about 4 weeks off. It has been nice, but very hectic with all the holiday activity. Rabbit picked up a new OF glove for Christmas and a few warm-up jackets. We are having fun getting it all broken in. The addition of the MLB Network on January 5th has our house buzzing with thoughts of baseball.

We had practice on Wednesday night. For the first time we are seeing some of the inherent drama of travel ball. Rabbit plays with the 10U (age 10 and under) group. The 11U group is splitting, and may be forced to play up a division in the 12U brackets to be sure they have enough players. This is not always a bad thing, but the way some players moved, and how and when it happened has left some parents interested in the future of having two separate 11U teams. It is very easy for me to be philosophical about it since I am not directly affected, but I do understand both sides. I try to remind myself that the boys are just 10 and 11. We try to stick with the 2 basic rules. First, are you having fun? Second, are you getting better? However, it is a large commitment, both in time and money and with a scarcity of both right now I want to be sure that we are in the best possible position.

Another thing that we are seeing is that some players are leaving the team for various reasons. Some want to only play Little League or Pony, some want to play other sports, some parents are unable to pay the fees in the current economy. This is making for a dynamic group of players. Not a problem at all, but it is clear that they play their best when they play consistently together.

Rabbit finished 2008 hitting a hair over .400 for Blue Wave (a monumental achievement given his past history) with two home runs and an on base percentage over .500. He is playing excellent defense and has great moments on the mound. And then he scares the heck out of everyone. Wow, he must be 10. We are very pleased with the coaching and the organization. Blue Wave was the right fit for us to get started with.

Looking forward: We have more Blue Wave, Little League, and OC Flyers to keep us busy from now until September. I have truly missed baseball over the past month. I scour the websites for Hot Stove information. I Tivo MLB Network shows for later. I am diseased. But that is not news to anyone who knows me.

Practice tonight and a tourney at the end of January. We will miss LL tryouts because we are out of town. We may miss the make-up date because of the Blue Wave tournament. I am OK with that. Little League will be the "fun stuff" this year. A chance to spend extra time with his friends. This is supposed to be fun after all.