Lack of Sleep

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. My mind was racing, like little spaceships darting all over, like rush hour on the Jetsons. My spaceships were images relating to baseball, and kids who play baseball, and their parents.

We got ten-runned by the Padres yesterday morning -- I missed the top of the first inning because I was picking up the "Box of Coffee" from Starbucks. I ordered it a half hour ahead of game-time, but they got busy and it wasn't ready when I arrived to pick it up. Plus, I got caught in some bicycle race taking place on the streets near Intel, Shute Road, and out to West Union. So...I ran up to the field with my coffee and fixin's and we had already sent our first three batters up and quickly they returned to the dugout: three up, three down.

Jack was catching and it was misting/light rain. It had been beautiful all week, sunshiney, a little wind, but here it was Saturday, and of course, it was cold and cloudy, and wet. But we had good coffee.

The Diamondbacks had two come-from-behind wins this week, only to look sluggish and field poorly against Evergreen LL's top team. The Padres and the Red Sox are teams from nearby Evergreen LL, who play an interlocking schedule with our Suncreek LL teams. Evergreen is the biggest league in District 4 size-wise, but can only field two majors teams, so they play with our teams. Most of the kids out there play Junior Baseball.

All I could think about last night was baseball. Was Jack having fun? Can you lose and still have fun? He seems so tired -- he plays baseball every night except Wednesday and Sunday. Last Tuesday and Thursday we didn't get home until after 10pm. And he still has homework -- he gets off the bus and walks through the front door at 4:15, and must be at a practice or game by 5pm. But the Diamondback way is to be there 15 minutes before the scheduled time in order to begin right on the mark. And, his allergies are raging right now, so his nose his runny and he has that blank look from too much decongestant. Plus, he is part of the Bloody Nose Brigade--there are about 4 boys on his team that get them almost everyday during this time of year.

So, all this suburban whining is making me crazy...why can't we just enjoy his final season? With John coaching, we are really into talking and thinking about baseball. Is it too much? All I keep thinking is that next year, well, there is no next year as far as Little League goes. This will all be a distant memory. I need to get a grip. Or take a nap.

John needs a nap, too: he has spent every waking moment working on the Suncreek LL rosters that must be sent to Williamsport. As Player Agent, he is responsible for the names and addresses of all the kids in the league. And it has been nothing but a nightmare. Coaches who don't answer emails, rosters that don't exist, manual entry of addresses into an Excel spreadsheet. Yuck. Aren't volunteer organizations fun?

Still, there are millions of parents and volunteers all over the country doing the same thing: coaching and umpiring, keeping score, mowing and chalking the fields, working in the "Treat Trailor," driving to games and practices, washing uniforms, and losing sleep over baseball...