Well, as many of you know, I've recently taken my baseball career to the next level. For those who didn't know, you do now. And since I pretty much peaked as a player between the ages of 12-15, I figured why not return to that time period. No, I didn't find a Delorean with a Flux Capacitor or the Fountain of Youth. I'm attempting to relive my glory days as a coach. Yes, I'm molding the minds and bodies of young men now. Scary thought I know. I'm the only Assistant Coach of the Eagles, a 13U Travel Baseball team, playing in the WBA's Sandy Koufax East Division. The team consists of fourteen 12 and 13 year olds who mostly reside on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. One kid lives in the Bronx and another lives on the Lower East Side.
My plan is to provide weekly updates on the achievements of the Eagles in as entertaining a style as my talents as a writer will allow. Big emphasis on the words "my talents as a writer". (If anyone knows anyone in publishing who might want to turn these into a book deal, that last sentence was a big hint, accompanied with me winking at you. Actually, the wink is for my wife because...well...that's private.) Similar to the other UFR's I've written, you know the rules: Every now and then, I'll combine my talent for finding movie clips on YouTube (There has to be a job that uses this talent). I, in no way, intend to offend anyone. Everything is meant to entertain. Your comments are welcomed, unless they're negative. If you'd like to be taken off the list, please let me know. No offense will be taken. (But if you don't enjoy an entertaining look inside the world of New York City Travel Baseball, you could be either anti-American or dead inside. I'm just sayin.)
But seriously, as always, I hope you enjoy reading them. Here we go...err...I mean, Play Ball!!
I'm just going to get this out in the open right away. Our team colors are maroon and gold. I'm not happy about it. There, I said it. I prefer to think of our uniforms looking like Arizona State. But I still wrote "Go Gators" on the inside of my hat. Always represent. Good, now it never has to be mentioned ever again.
The first thing you have to realize is that up in the northeast, Travel Baseball is a huge deal. This is not your average Little League team either. Many of these boys have been playing together since they were 8 years old, and some have been recruited. They are nothing like these kids. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxL3Ly1Hjzo) Well, actually, they might be a little like those guys. We started "voluntary" workouts in February in a gym on the campus of CCNY on 131st and Convent Avenue. Every Saturday for about a month, while the temperature outside was in the 20s, we shared the gym with the 14U and 15U teams. We did what we could with the limited space: throwing, cut-off positioning, rundowns, bunting, ground ball fielding mechanics, pitchers throwing a little bit. But we were eager to get outside and get on a real field. Eventually, we did, and were able to keep adding elements to practices, including batting practice. On rainy Saturdays, we went to the batting cages in Queens.
Quick note: For the purposes of speeding things up a little bit, I'm going to skip all the background info on the boys and what happened at practices and get right to the games each week. Perhaps I'll throw you some nuggets as the season moves along, but for now, I'll save all that good stuff for the book. (That's another hint for people who know people. No wink this time though.)
Exhibition game vs Express, April 3rd, Thomas Jefferson Park, 112th St. & 1st Ave.
After about 5 weeks of practicing, it was time to see what these boys could do. Coach Jeff (Names of coaches, players and parents have been changed to protect their identity) and I were excited, but a little concerned because we haven't been able to get on a real baseball field yet. The only fields that were open were softball fields. Many of these kids are playing on a large baseball field for the first time. And they are making the transition to wood bats. The kids hit well in the batting cages, but on the field, many of them couldn't hit the ball out of the infield. That's why we wanted to play a scrimmage game. The regular season was only a week away. (Personally, I think these kids are too young to be playing on a Major League sized diamond, but like I said, this stuff is serious business.) Fortunately, the fields at Thomas Jefferson Park are also softball fields, so, we should have been good to go. We weren't. The boys were a little intimidated by playing in a game, I think, and couldn't make routine plays in the field, looked at too many pitches (striking out looking 8 times) and the score was more lopsided than I care to repeat. At times, we looked a little like the first 2:00 of this: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khzQ8Pi5PQE&feature=related) OK, it wasn't that bad. But there were only a couple events worth repeating.
It didn't take long for me to get into an argument with the umpire. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZhDdcE2Iw) Oh c'mon, it wasn't like that. Now the irony in this is that I've been an umpire for 5 years. Because of that, I am a little more patient than the average coach. I'll never argue balls and strikes or judgement calls. However, when an umpire is just plain wrong when it comes to a rule, or flat out lies to me, I can't help myself. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Larry, one of our better pitchers and a huge fan of The Rolling Stones and The Who ("the greatest band of all time" are his exact words.), is on the mound with a runner on 2nd base. The batter hits a little dribbler down the 1st base line that appears to be going foul. Larry runs over and picks it up immediately, but the umpire is just pointing to the ground and not saying anything. Being an umpire, I know that he's ruling fair ball (He's supposed to point in towards the infield, not down, but I let that go.) I tell Larry to call timeout right away, which he does, and the umpire throws his hand up in the air...hence calling timeout. All of a sudden, the batter, who reached first on the hit, takes off for 2nd base.
So I say to the umpire, "Wait a minute, you called timeout."
"No I didn't," is his reply.
"You raised your hand up!!", already extremely agitated.
"No I didn't. I pointed to the ground."
This went back and forth for just a couple more seconds, as I realized it was an unwinnable argument. But after the inning, the umpire apologized to me and said he didn't realize he threw his hand up in the air. I felt a little vindicated, but was still upset because he cheated my boys on the play. Good thing it was only an exhibition game.
In the 4th, Albert, one of our captains and overall best players, is now on the "bump". The batter hits a pop up halfway down the first base line and Albert, and David, the 1st baseman, converge on the ball. Standing in front of the 1st base dugout, I know exactly what is about to happen. Just as I yell, "Someone call it!!"...BOOM!! David, who is twice the size of Albert, slams right into the little guy. Amazingly, he held onto the ball, but Albert is writhing in pain on the ground, and...unfortunately...crying. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t48brs4QRjY) As I quickly run over to Albert to make sure he's ok, I hear a shrill female's voice coming from behind me.
"Oh my G-d! Oh my G-d! Oh my G-d!"
It actually sounded like my mother and I had a quick flashback to my little league days. Mothers tend to over react, and Jewish mothers really over react. My mother once pulled me off the soccer field because it was raining. My pleas to her explaining that soccer is played in the rain were of no consequence to her. "Who plays in the rain??!!! That's nonsense." I blame my mother for my soccer career only lasting one season. Albert's mom was no exception. She continued...
"Don't move him!! Don't move him!! Oh my G-d!!"
At this point Albert's dad, who was also kneeling next to Albert, said, "Carol, be quiet and back away." After Albert moved, his mom continued.
"Oh thank G-d!! You're going to scare me like that in the first game of the season??!! Don't do that to me!!" Why do Jewish mothers always play the victim?? But I digress. Albert got up, walked it off, and finished the inning. What a gamer that kid is. We're expecting big things from the little guy, which is a reason why we named him one of our captains.
And speaking of David, later in the game, he was on 1st base. As first base coach, I make sure that the kids are watching John at 3rd so they get the signs. Now as we all know, teams use signs in baseball to strategize without the other team knowing what you are doing. Everyone knows that. Well, apparently not David, After John goes through his routine, David turns to me, and, in louder than a whisper says, "That's nothing." Thanks, kid. Next time, tell the whole team.
I won't repeat the score, but it wasn't too far off from that Bad News Bears game. No joke. Like I said earlier, I think the kids were a little intimidated and nervous playing in a game finally. Lots of things to work on for opening day, which is only a week away. Don't you worry though. We'll be ready.
Next episode...Opening Day.
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