SoTac Sermons: Days 24 & 33: Raspberries, Righties and Rainbows

May 25 and June 8
Some of you may remember us mentioning our neighbor's house burning down several years ago. One of the boys in that house, Steven, went to Manitou and was in the same grade as Will. Despite moving a couple of times Steven continued to go to Manitou. Last winter I coached a basketball team at the Boys and Girls Club on which Steven played (very well I might say.) At the end of that season I invited the boys to join our baseball team. Two of them did, one of whom was Steven. I was very excited to add a couple more players to our long running team, but there were two problems.
First, Steven's aunt and uncle could pick him up from practice but couldn't get off work in time to take him. This problem was easy to solve as myself and some other coaches were able to give him a ride. Sometimes, as you can see from the pictures below, Steven just came home from school with Will. This was great for us because Steven would quickly head through the house into the backyard and back to the basketball hoop. Our kids like basketball, but usually prefer other activities, except when Steven is around. Within seconds of arriving he's leading a game of HORSE.

The other problem was simply this: Steven had never played baseball. He'd never been to a baseball game. He'd never even seen a game played. The first day of practice I had to show him which hand to put the glove on. "Uh oh" I remember initially thinking, "I was hoping this season would be one where all the kids started to 'get it.' but now we're starting at the beginning with Steven." Oh well, that's coaching, right? Then, after getting the glove on the correct hand Steven threw the ball and my fears vanished..."Pop!" It nailed the glove of the other player. Steven could throw the ball. By the end of the second practice, he was on the mound working with our pitching coach. He did so well that we put him in to start our second game and here's how the first inning went.
Batter 1: Strike Out
Batter 2: Pop out to the Pitcher (Steven)
Batter 3: Strike Out
Steven exited the field to raucous cheers and some proud coaches who were sure we had the next Felix Hernandez on our team. Then the next inning went like this.
Batter 1: Walk
Batter 2: Walk
Batter 3: Walk
Batter 4: Walk
Batter 5.... well you get the picture.
We had to pull Steven after 4 runs scored and my pitching dreams went from King Felix to Bobby Ayala (sorry M's fans for speaking the name of the reliever who shall not be named). Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal; its the courage to continue that counts." Churchill would have loved Steven because he continued - through many more strikeouts and walks. By the end of the season he'd started to put it together and struck out the side in his last inning of our final game.
I considered sitting this baseball season out when I received the sabbatical grant. I knew I'd miss several games and didn't feel like I could coach the team being so absent. Fortunately Jeremy offered to be the head coach while Jason and Erik offered to take on some more responsibility. It is so great coaching with other guys who are willing to share the load. Had that not been the case we'd have missed the chance for things like shared raspberries, rookie righties and rainbow diamonds. What a shame that would have been.