There is Nothing Better than Baseball in the Spring

This appeared in The Post Journal on May 20, 2018

There were two outs in the final inning. He was five years old. He was so short that it was hard to throw strikes to him. 

He was so small that my father would have described him as “knee-high to a grasshopper.” It was a moment of high drama. He had struck out on his previous at bats.

Local phenom Jack Sherry on the mound

Sitting around the baseball diamond were parents and grandparents — I being one of the latter. It was all somewhat amazing since just two weeks before there had been snow on the ground. But this night it was in the 60s, the sun was setting and low in the sky, the grass was really green as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

The grass was really green, as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

This is one of things we live for in Chautauqua County — baseball in the spring. We were the visiting team but that side of the diamond faced the glaring sun and so I had chosen to be on the home-team side along the first base line. That had given me time, between innings, to talk with one of the home-team coaches who was also acting as the official scorekeeper.

I had commented on how beautiful and new the dugouts seemed to be: bright unpainted wood and new concrete. He informed me that all of the work had been done by volunteers and that the materials had been donated by local contractors and businessmen. The “homeiness” of it all made you feel good.

The game had gotten long. I had forgotten how much time it took to get through an inning with young, beginning players. There were a lot of walks and the few hit balls inevitably got through the infield and throws to the bag were either wild or not caught.

But that was not the point of the game. This was a teaching experience. Kids new to the game were learning baseball. Play would stop and a coach would instruct one of the players on how to squat and get in front of a ground ball. Hitters at the plate would be repositioned so that they were properly in the batting box. Pitchers would be moved forward so that their throws could reach the plate.

In the later innings (six in total,) the coaches began to pitch in order to get more balls over the plate and give the players a better chance at hitting the ball.

The coaches also acted as umpires and I heard words of admonition more than once that players were not to argue about the calls. Umpires are umpires, period. No complaints allowed. Learning the discipline of the game is important.

Before their last “at bats,” the home-team coach had gathered his players and given them a pep talk on how the game was still close, it was the bottom of the last inning, that they could tie the game by scoring two runs or win it by scoring three. “Go get ’em guys!” he said. “One, two, three “Go!” they all shouted.

It looked bleak with two outs and two on base. But that didn’t faze the 5 year old. He swung and missed. But, on the next good pitch he gave it his all and knocked a grounder out toward second base.

There was some confusion in the defense and he got to first, and the runners advanced. The momentum had changed. Two hitters later, three runs had crossed the plate. The home-team had pulled off a victory!

Can it get any better than this? Even when your team loses, you feel like everyone has won. There is nothing like baseball in the spring!

Rolly Kidder