My Man...

My man.

So Dodge was asked to come join his old team for the state baseball tournament.  I remember now why we left last year though and got picked up by another team.

In general, the team can not identify pitches in or out of the strike zone.  (When I say this I really do mean they strike out on ball six, i.e. they could have been on base already, but grandma is too busy reminding them to hit a home run that they have never been able to do in practice or games.)  They don't play defense.  They have one pitcher; well two if you add Dodge.

I realize there are different tiers of teams in baseball, first tier that play all three facets of the game well.  Second tier that play generally two of them well and then everyone else who probably struggles to play any well.

Last year with this team, Dodge had back to back no hitters.  The first game was against the team that would pick him up for their World Series run last year.  The second was a perfecto where he faced twelve batters and took them all down on strike outs.  I realize that a four inning game is not a "full" game in the Major Leagues, but if that is the full game at age nine, a full game it is.

Fast forward to this year's state tournament.  The team he is playing for scored eight runs through two games.  He was responsible for half the runs and RBIs.  That's right, he either knocked you in or as lead off man scored himself.  He only has one hit, but got on base in all four chances and collected six stolen bases in the meantime.  On the bump, he collected the only win with three strike outs in 2.1 innings.  He pitched mostly right handed though - his non dominant side.  (Oh yeah, he switch hits, like plenty of hitters do, but he also switch pitches.)

I realize one kid can not make a team, but one kid can also nor carry them on his back either.  When one kid has to put up 50% of the teams run production, the "team" is probably not going far.

True to form, I suspect that while the team he is helping this weekend is pretty limited on their options for advancing I am glad he is just out there playing and enjoying the game.  I look at some of the coaches who didn't want him this weekend and their resulting records getting blown out 24-0 or losing more games than they won and have to ask is your system really that stellar?

In any case, I love watching my man play the game he loves and succeed at it.