The Little League Coach

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Guest Post for The Little League Coach

by Little League Mom (AKA E. Peevie)

I know a lot of you little league parents out there have finished up your seasons and have already headed into playoffs. You’re beginning to see the light at the end of the batting tunnel, and it’s not because you just got beaned. You no longer have bleach on your Costco list. You’ve promised your non-little-league children that you’ll be spending some quality time with them soon.

Not us. Here in Chicago we had a late start. We were still shoveling snow into late April , for crying out loud. It must make you wonder why this part of the continent is even inhabited, instead of remaining an icy scientific outpost. I often wonder the same thing.

But here we are, almost into July, with two more weeks of regular season baseball, followed by another two weeks of playoffs. After that, we could be lucky enough to have another two weeks of All-Stars—so I could be bulk-buying bleach and Gatorade ® for another six weeks. Oh, yippy.

Seriously, though, I’m thrilled that C. Peevie is finally playing on a winning team, and that they have a good chance of doing well in the playoffs. I’m happy that he gets to play different positions, and that he experiences small successes every game. In all but one of his previous seasons of Little League ball-playing, he’s had way more opportunities to learn how to be a good sport when losing than how to be a gracious winner.

Yesterday’s game had three separate rain-outs. Each time players, coaches, and fans ran for the mini-vans to wait out the powerful storm bursts, which acted like weather temper tantrums. The first time, Mr. Peevie actually brought C. Peevie home, thinking the game had been called—but the coach begged to differ: “Hey! Where’s C. Peevie? We’re headed back onto the field.”

The ump called a rain-out during the third storm, two innings shy of a complete game. (I’m happy to report that C. Peevie still had plenty of game time to get his uniform dirty, kneeling in the dust behind home plate . I really need to teach that boy how to do laundry.) So we’ll be squeezing in one more partial game before play-offs.

Last week C. Peevie asked Mr. Peevie and I if we’d let him try out for Traveling All-Stars. This would mean an entirely new level of commitment, which would feel more like a hostage situation than a family-friendly past-time. We said no. I love Little League as much as the next Little League Mom, but you know what they say: too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

Meanwhile, if you need me, I’ll be in the bleachers. Or home, getting dirt stains out of white baseball pants. Still.