My son Michael plays Little League baseball… during the first five games or so of this season he was hit very hard by the ball while batting. As a result he became terrified to get up to the plate, so basically he was benched for the last three games. Tonight Michael tried again, and the first attempt went badly… He got up near to the plate and froze. However, both teams erupted in cheers for him, shouts of “Michael, Michael, Michael!” came from everywhere on and off the field… but, alas, it just didn’t help and back to the bench went Michael… The game went on and Michael got back up to bat for a second time… this time was much different… he went right to the plate and batted! It wasn’t pretty, you could tell he was still terrified, but he did it! I’ve never heard so many cheers, or seen so many “high-fives” for striking out. I asked what changed, and he said that it was both teams cheering for him, boys he didn’t even know rooting him on, that really inspired him… At the end of the game the coach of his team gave him the game ball, and the coach from the other team came over and said, “Our team tradition is to give boys on our team, who do a great job during a game, baseball cards. We’ve decided to present you the cards for displaying extreme team spirit”… as we walked away Michael turned to me and said, “ Dad you know how the league has a sportsmanship award for one player who shows sportsmanship during the year?”… I said, “yes”… He says, “I wish I could give it to a whole team, because I’d give the award to the entire other team!”… Sometimes these kids just amaze me!
