Back in the day, baseball brought a town together. Kids pitched a million pitches in games because they weren't being shuttled off to a showcase or a weekend travel tournament. We had team gear. A bat was a bat and ya didn't get pissed off if a kid borrowed or dented your new $300 composite bat. Hell, in Arcola I remember we even had a team cup- and if you played catcher you'd shove that bad boy down your pants and then knock on it to show the coaches you were ready to go. For fundraising it wasn't up to your parents to post on social media to buy your bracket pools, but you walked door to door talking to your neighbors and sold them a big 'ole candy bar for $2. That chocolate was a hot commodity. I would live for the weekend where we would play at Waxpool because Mr. Parcell had built those famous underground dugouts. Parents would yell, whoop and holler, and if they got on their kid they weren't accused of being a psycho parent scarring their kid for life.
I can still remember the sound of gravel under our tires pulling up to the field and boy do I miss those days. So bad. Don't get me wrong, I still love the game and my favorite place to be is on a field watching my kids play. But it annoys me when numbers and stats, the pressure, and lately the technology behind the game get in the way. And when I write blogs, trust me I'm not a know it all parent with all the answers... It is more me writing to myself because I see me being guilty of these behaviors and I'm just trying to get in check. There are so many times I need to remember that this is just a game with a stick and a ball and it's for F-U-N.
Within the last few years, there has been an app that is my BFF. Gamechanger. It's amazing. It allows me to follow along to games when I'm with one kid and my hubby is with another. I don't miss out. My phone will ding with a text saying "Great hit"... or other times "He's gonna walk him. Ya need to pull him off the mound," and I smile because I know grandparents are following from afar. We've even set up my hubby's 90 year old GiGi with the app and she cheers on our kids. The app has made improvments and recently added a voice play by play and I can listen rather than almost kill my kids while driving glancing at a close game.
But let me tell ya. Just like most technology, this app comes with a downside... and if any of these apply to you consider checking yourself...
- GC gives you an out. My friends will tell you I'm crazy. I hate missing my kids games. But since Gamechanger has been around, I'm so less likely to be right there. Sure, I may be in the car within view. But if it's raining or cold, it is so much comfier to be in my car nice and toasty watching and following along on my app. Or if it requires us taking two cars and a lot of work, I may choose to lay on the couch and catch the game listening to it. Lately, I've been trying to remind myself that sure, there are times when I'm not able to be there. But if I am, I will pack a blanket, carry an umbrella and "be" there. I will be present. Saying you are watching doesn't compare to your kid looking up in the stands and witnessing it themselves.
- GC is not the big picture. While GC gives the rundown of the game, it leaves sooooo much out. You don't know about the kid that made the crazy, unreal slide into home to tie up he game. You don't know how a kid's curveball was moving. You don't hear about how a kid was absolutely robbed of a hit and how the second basemen made a catch that belonged on ESPN. You don't hear how a kid got in a pickle and made it safe. It doesn't show how a kid missed a sign. It doesn't show a kid who was playing sick or a kid that was toughing it out after being beamed by a pitch. And sometimes things are just entered wrong. My hubby jokes to look up defensive indifference and it's never used right. And though I've seen that scored a hundred times, I have no clue what that is but I just go with it.
- GC doesn't show Hustle and Heart. GC leaves out a whole bunch. It doesn't show the kid that pops up off the bench to warm up left field without being asked. It doesn't show the kid picking up his team in the dugout and getting everyone fired up- and sometimes that kid is even more important than the kids making all-star plays on the field. It doesn't show the kid that gets to the game early and stays late. It doesn't show which kid stayed to put away the bases after the game or grabbed a mask and voluntarily warmed up pitcher. Baseball is so much more than hitting, throwing, and catching... and sometimes it's those players that work hard and have the will that surpass those natural talents.
- GC doesn't show attitude. GC doesn't show a huge part of the game. It doesn't show a kid eye rolling at the umpire's call. It doesn't show a kid talking back to a coach, yelling at his Dad or even worse his teammate. GC doesn't show how a kid didn't run out a hit and take off after a dropped third strike because they were pissed. Attitude is everything.
- GC allows you to stalk. I'm guilty and it's not a good thing and I've had to stop. GC allows you to type in any team and see how other teams and kids are doing. With as competitive as the sport has become this can eat away at you. Guess what? If Johnny pitched 140 pitches this weekend and you have looked it up and are now saying how he may need Tommy John surgery in the future- It's none of your business. Nunya. If you are looking up another kid's outing and making conclusions- maybe you are over the top and need to stay in your lane. If you are checking stats and worrying about the "future" of your kid and if they are keeping up, guess what- YOU may be the problem. It's a game. The best thing to do is to quiet the noise and as we tell our own children- Don't worry about what everyone else is doing!
- GC is an amazing tool but don't forget the good stuff. Yes, if you've made it this far reading this blog, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you are a crazy baseball/softball fan just like I am. GC is a godsend to us when you use it in the right way. But at the end of the day let's remember why we all do this. GC doesn't tell us the important things. Like, "Remember, this field has that BBQ joint with the best food we've ever had." That field sells the funnel cake fries. Oh man, remember that tournament when we all stayed up until 3am and went to karaoke and were dragging the next day. Remember that game where the coach got ejected and the umpire went nuts? Awwww, that was the field when all the little siblings got covered in mud and we lost them. Not sure about you. But stuff like that is the meaning of life. I look at the picture of me on the mound up above and I can't tell you a single play I made in that game, but I sure can remember my parents being there cheering to high heavans no matter how I did- and those memories will forever be in my mind- not the numbers or stats. It's the good stuff and why I love this game so much.
