Red Sox vs Cardinals

Liam finally got to play his first game last night after a several week delay.  His league consists of 4 & 5 year olds, and it is like herding cats.  I had forgotten what it was like watching little kids play baseball, when they don't really know what they are doing.  See, by the time Zachary was 5, he had already been playing for 2 years.  And that year, the park combined the 5 year olds & 6 year olds in the same league, so we had kids on the team even older than him.  But this is Liam's first year playing, and it is evident that most of the kids on his team haven't ever played before.

There is no keeping score.  They all get to bat each inning, and when it's the last batter, everyone who is still on base gets to run all the way around to home.  So it's definitely less exciting than in Zachary's age group, but it is definitely no less entertaining.

The game was slooooooow.  They made the decision a couple of weeks ago to try coach-pitching to the kids.  Most of the kids (on both teams) couldn't hit the pitches (they get 5), so they had to bring out the tee.  This contributes to a longer game - they only got through 3 innings.  The Cardinals also had a kid on their team, who, every time he came to bat and hit the ball, he would run straight up the middle of the field towards 2nd base.  Meanwhile, his coaches are yelling at him to run back over to 1st.

Then I heard crying come from the field.  Yep, Liam was in tears.  It seems that the ball had been rolling towards him, and as he waited for it to get to him, another kid swooped in and took it, so he cried.  This happened again a few minutes later.  He cried 2 more times before the game was over.  It was frustrating, to say the least.  We also had to make a mid-game bathroom break - luckily, we were at the other park, and the bathrooms are much closer to the field over there.

He had just said a week or so ago that he hoped his baseball never ended.  I will be surprised if he wants to play again next year.