Last Batter

Sometimes everything just falls into place to turn a common occurrence into a spectacular event...and Friday night was one of those times.

See, it all started Friday evening on the way to T-Ball.  Charlie asked me to tell him a story and pretty much all of my stories star Curious George as a blatant stand-in for Charlie himself.  In Friday's story George was the smallest member of his t-ball team and often feared that the other kids would laugh at him when he was up to bat because he sometimes missed the ball.  When it was George's turn to bat he did miss the ball on his first swing and expected to hear laughter, but instead everyone was cheering for him.  When he swung again, the ball went farther than it ever had and George scored a home run with all the ensuing fanfare...and everyone lived happily ever after.

Fast forward to the second inning, and Charlie had the coveted position of "last batter".  New to me this year, but essentially, when the last batter is up the fielding team has to replace the ball on the tee to end the inning.  Sometimes they also field the ball trying to get outs, but more often than not they just take it to the tee.

As happens in any sporting event, the crowd's attention waxes and wanes, but for some reason our whole section suddenly seemed to focus on the game as Charlie came up to bat, so he heard cheers other than just  mom's and dad's as he warmed up. 

After a brief chat with Coach TJ, Charlie swung and managed to smack the tee so the ball actually fell back towards him, but just like in our story, the cheers only got louder.  So he scuffed his feet and swung again, and the ball truly did fly farther than it ever has before -- almost to the pitcher's mound, so Jason's and my cheers were definitely louder than usual.

Charlie started to pull up at first base, but Coach Bill told him to keep on going, so in what I consider the cutest running posture ever (head down, chin out and arms motionless down to the elbows, then swinging below) he powered on to second, then with encouragement on towards home with the crowd roaring and Coach Lopez actually swinging his arm around just like they do in the big leagues.

The look on Charlie's face as he slid into home amidst the cheers was a mixture of shock and pride, and I'm sure Jason's and mine were a mirror of the same -- along with tremendous gratitude.

It wasn't a playoff game, it wasn't the final inning, they don't keep score in t-ball and the ball had actually been on the tee since about second base, but I would argue that in the course of over 6000 years of Creation that moment was just as significant as any final play in any Olympics, World Series, Super Bowl or Final Four.  No one could convince me that millions of dollars, lengthy contracts or fancy tropies bring more joy or build character better than a little boy trying his hardest and through the mercy and love of friends, family and strangers, exceeding his wildest dreams.