Play Ball!

“Where’s my jersey?”

“Hurry, we are gonna be late!”

 “Mom, what if enough players don’t show up?”

It’s first game jitters.  I’m used to it.  It happens every new season for every sport.  But this time it’s different.  This team is completely new to us, so we don’t know anything about the players, or what position people like to play, or even anyone’s name!  And for the first time, both of my boys are playing on the same team.  It’s an exciting day!

The kids are a little nervous, and anxious so we head out early.

As I expected, all their worries slip away as soon as they step foot on that familiar ground, the soft green grass, the storied white-lined pea gravel path to home plate, the safe and familiar dug out, where so many high’s and low’s are celebrated and buried side by side. 

It doesn’t matter that this is West Madison Little League and we typically play for another Little League.  It doesn’t matter that there is an age disparity.  It doesn’t matter that the skill levels are all over the map.  It’s just another baseball game.  It’s just another day at the ballpark. 

That’s why it’s brilliant.  Taking kids just like my sons, who can’t imagine summer without a ball and bat, who literally live out of our car for days during baseball season, who know players far and wide and tell the tales of their triumphant plays or dismal losses, and pairing them alongside kids who might not otherwise get the chance to play baseball, without this team.

This is the Challenger League.  This is baseball at it’s most basic, most pure, most beautiful.   It’s real baseball.  Every player here is focused on everything they can do, not what they can’t.  No one notices if any player is more talented than the next, no one cares how they stack up.  They just want their chance to compete, and play.

And on this first game of the season, my able-bodied boys along with dozens of others, buddy up with players that have varying life challenges some physical some not, and they play baseball.  That’s it.  Simple as that. 

            Every single player may not know the rules to this game, or even care about them.  But they do know the thrill of standing before a crowd of cheering fans.  Some of them give a shy wave while others take a bow.  Everyone on each team bats with their buddy.  Everyone on each team makes it around each base and eventually comes home with their buddy, some with elaborate sliding techniques obviously given in-depth thought during the week leading up to the game.  Everyone plays the field with their buddy.  No one makes mistakes, there are only good plays, good hits, and everyone cheers for everyone.

But of course what I witness happening out there on the field is much bigger than just a game.  These players hit the field with enthusiasm, attitude, competitive spirit, and the most pure desire for a chance to play the game. They hit, they run the bases, they chase down fly balls and line drives, they sweat, they cheer, they smile, they high five, they celebrate.  They deliver everything you’d hope to see at a baseball game in 3 innings of play.

To get the chance to be a part of that truly is priceless. Every challenger player on the field wins, not because their team scored more runs, but because they competed in the game, felt the thrill of the challenge, and soaked up the feeling of a job well done.

And every challenger buddy walks off a winner too, because you can’t truly appreciate your own sport until you play along side those who can remind you, why you love the game.  This is the moment you see everything more clearly.  You run side by side those familiar base paths, sometimes with the hand of another human being in yours, who wants that thrill that you can guide them to, as you round each base, even if it’s on wheels, who looks to you for reassurance and affirmation that they are a part of the team.  You shout with excitement as the ball heads in your player’s direction, and celebrate the thrill of their effort, not your own, making the play.   

And you realize that the dreams of playing sports are not only your dreams but theirs too, and suddenly the world feels just a little smaller because you played a game.