Having a catch

So Jack's team got clobbered this evening, and Jack was pretty morose afterward. It was bad enough -- pretty much the worst pounding I'd ever seen -- that the game ended after 3 innings, and Jack got only one inning in the field and no at-bats.

We trudged home from the field and I (after telling Jack at the field to keep his cool) told Jack to go ahead and say anything he wanted to say. I said, you know, losses like that happen every once in a while.

And he said, exasperatedly, "It's not that we lost, it's that I didn't get to DO anything about it. I didn't bat, and I only played one inning!" And I said, yeah, well, it's tough, there are 15 kids on the team, and most of them are older than you, and we only played 3 innings, etc. And he continued: "And (friend who got yelled at by coach for goofing around on bench) doesn't even care! It's optional for him. And I actually DO care!"

So I told him I understood. And that we are going to have a great time in Minors this season (new season starting, as his Spring Travel season is ending), since the kids are all his age (true) and he's one of the best players on the team (also true). And he'd get to hit plenty, field plenty, and have some fun. Win or lose.

By this time we had reached home, and I said, Jack, you want to go play catch in the back yard? And to my relief, he nodded.

So we had a catch, and it only took a handful of throws before he was grinning again. Me too.