T-Ball Anyone? - a Funny Kids' Sports Story

When my older daughter was five years old we signed her up for t-ball, the tiny tot version of softball. I remember it as a great time to sit back and relax after a hectic day at work and catch up with friends. A typical game lasted about an hour, no one kept score, and there was always lots of positive reinforcement and cheering from the bleachers. Of course, there was always that obnoxious parent who spent the entire game coaching his kid from the stands as if it were a major league baseball game.

One evening during a weekly game that had gone on far too long, the team was asked to take the field. It was the last inning and the kids were losing focus fast. The opposing team was up at bat and the first child stepped up to the plate. He swung and swung but just couldn't connect with the ball. During the entire time, an irate father in the stands began to heckle the child. "Come on you bum! What are you blind?" Parents and coaches all stared at him, their heads shaking in total disgust at the seriousness at which this man was taking the game. Meanwhile the frustrated child continued to swing and miss. By this time, the players on the field had begun to lose focus. Some of the outfielders began picking flowers, their backs to the batter. Finally, just as everyone was losing hope that this poor child would never hit the ball and that the game would never come to an end, bat and ball connected. The ball soared over the pitchers head, as the child raced to first base. Everyone cheered as he stood proudly on the base, grinning from ear to ear. The father in the stands again began to scream, "Oh my God! Is that all ya got!" Finally the coach stormed off the field and climbed into the bleachers until he was face to face with the irate parent. "This behavior is unacceptable!" the coach reprimanded. Confused, the father pulled the headphones from his ears and replied, "Damn Yankees! They're ahead of the Sox 2-1!"