We went to Sacramento yesterday to watch eight year old Kennedy play baseball. The players in the Fall League don’t have practices, but they show up for games. Some have never played before, and it’s a challenge for them . And for their coaches, too. Baseball is complicated, and the skills required to throw accurately, hit a pitched ball, and catch take years to learn. The players walk, steal second, third, and home, all on wild pitches or erratic throws. Occasionally a batter makes contact and puts a ball into play. Rarely.
Yesterday Kennedy pitched, played catcher, and batted twice, walking once and striking out once.
Kennedy understands the game and is developing the skills to play it well. We were disappointed that he didn’t get a hit, but that’s baseball.
Kennedy wasn’t the star of the show, though. We noticed early in the game that Kyle, one of the opponents, was paying no attention to the game. He lay down in right field, he looked at his grandmother, he played with his hat. Kyle took no interest in baseball. I followed him around with my camera. Here’s an eight year old boy, who played right field, shortstop, and left field for an interminable hour and a half.
Priceless.