When Pitching is Impossible
The dust flew as the boy ran from home plate to first base and jumped on the bag in victory. He turned to see if he should go to second base…. He saw the other team drop the ball again and he was off. His own team members cheered him on as he ran as fast as he could. They were trouncing our team and our team knew it. What a feeling of helplessness. You can’t do a thing but watch.
It is Tuesday night Baseball and our team is struggling.
Our problem at this point is the fellow in the middle – the pitcher. There on the pitcher’s mound stood a young boy with the entire team counting on him. I will call him ‘Jerry’. The last two batters had just hit and run. The first batter didn’t even need to hit – because Jerry, the pitcher, hit him with the ball and he was allowed to go to first base with out even swinging. The bases are loaded and we all knew that the next hitter was a big fellow that could blast this out of park! Discouragement among our team members was running high to say the least. What should be done?
One of our coaches held his hand up to indicate a ‘time out’ and then walked to the pitcher’s mound. All the players approached the pitcher with their coach. Jerry’s shoulders slumped telling the whole story. His eyes filled with tears and he said to his coach, “I suck as a pitcher. I am no good.” Then he passed the ball to his coach and began to walk off.
The coach’s intentions were, along with the team mates, to encourage the pitcher. The pitcher’s intention was to leave the game.
As the coach walked off the field with the boy in front of him, Jerry adjusted his cap to cover his face entirely so no one could see the tears that were falling.
In this age group insecurity is real. You are not yet big enough to play well. Some of your team mates can hit or run or catch or pitch. As a player you can too…but if you mess up – ‘You suck’ and you simply want to die.
In this league, normally a parent or grandparent steps up at this point to give a little shoulder rubbing… or a hug. That will sometimes cure the bottomless feeling that the 12 year old is having. A little pep talk seems to be just enough when the ‘whole world sucks’.
This didn’t happen for the 12 year old pitcher, Jerry. As he walked to the sideline he was done. No parent stepped up and no one moved. We all felt his pain but could do nothing about it. We all paused and waited. The coach talked to Jerry by himself. Everyone watched. Then the turning point came. With the coach’s arm on his shoulder he headed for the first base position to fill that spot and everyone applauded their new hero. This is a team that is coming together.
At about 8:00 PM the game was over. Our guys were beaten and we knew it. The other team was good. This is Tuesday night baseball and next week there will be another game.
The rest of the story….
The coach watched at the end of the game as the young boy Jerry stood waiting. Everyone was leaving as families rounded up possessions left on the ground.
There was no parent for Jerry. The coach watched a car pull up. A younger man got out. The coach approached the young man to try to tell him how the night went, Jerry stood alone and waited. The younger man is Jerry’s counselor.
Jerry is a foster kid that is staying somewhere else other than his own home. His own home may not even exist anymore. There is no way to find out. The counselor shared a tiny bit with the coach to help him understand. The counselor was Jerry’s transportation for the night.
The words “I suck as a pitcher. I am no good.” rang in the ears of the coach all week. Last night they rang in my ears too. As he told me the story my heart went out to Jerry. He didn’t show at the game.
It is just easier to stay home than to face any dumb pitcher’s mound again. To have to face other ‘families’ and demonstrated ‘family life’ – i.e. other guys getting their dads to hug them is too hard for a 12 year old.
Reflection…
Baseball is a parody of life for me. Team work should be there – but often isn’t. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Sometimes people let you down and other times ‘you suck’. And when ‘you suck’ a little shoulder rubbing sure helps. And at 12 years old you need a parent or someone to just say, “It will be okay.”
More often than not I know what Jerry feels. I guess that is why I have a lump in my throat for him when he didn’t show up for the game last night.
My prayer…today…
God, I hurt like crazy as I hear of Jerry’s story. As I witnessed his shoulders slumped and his hat over his face I knew what he felt like. God, I know that I likely can’t be there for Jerry personally, but I pray that some one will care for him as he approaches the next steps through to manhood. And God… if another Jerry comes my way, please let me see and understand so that I can be there to rub his shoulders and say it will be okay. Thanks God…. Murray
~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~
It is Tuesday night Baseball and our team is struggling.
Our problem at this point is the fellow in the middle – the pitcher. There on the pitcher’s mound stood a young boy with the entire team counting on him. I will call him ‘Jerry’. The last two batters had just hit and run. The first batter didn’t even need to hit – because Jerry, the pitcher, hit him with the ball and he was allowed to go to first base with out even swinging. The bases are loaded and we all knew that the next hitter was a big fellow that could blast this out of park! Discouragement among our team members was running high to say the least. What should be done?
One of our coaches held his hand up to indicate a ‘time out’ and then walked to the pitcher’s mound. All the players approached the pitcher with their coach. Jerry’s shoulders slumped telling the whole story. His eyes filled with tears and he said to his coach, “I suck as a pitcher. I am no good.” Then he passed the ball to his coach and began to walk off.
The coach’s intentions were, along with the team mates, to encourage the pitcher. The pitcher’s intention was to leave the game.
As the coach walked off the field with the boy in front of him, Jerry adjusted his cap to cover his face entirely so no one could see the tears that were falling.
In this age group insecurity is real. You are not yet big enough to play well. Some of your team mates can hit or run or catch or pitch. As a player you can too…but if you mess up – ‘You suck’ and you simply want to die.
In this league, normally a parent or grandparent steps up at this point to give a little shoulder rubbing… or a hug. That will sometimes cure the bottomless feeling that the 12 year old is having. A little pep talk seems to be just enough when the ‘whole world sucks’.
This didn’t happen for the 12 year old pitcher, Jerry. As he walked to the sideline he was done. No parent stepped up and no one moved. We all felt his pain but could do nothing about it. We all paused and waited. The coach talked to Jerry by himself. Everyone watched. Then the turning point came. With the coach’s arm on his shoulder he headed for the first base position to fill that spot and everyone applauded their new hero. This is a team that is coming together.
At about 8:00 PM the game was over. Our guys were beaten and we knew it. The other team was good. This is Tuesday night baseball and next week there will be another game.
The rest of the story….
The coach watched at the end of the game as the young boy Jerry stood waiting. Everyone was leaving as families rounded up possessions left on the ground.
There was no parent for Jerry. The coach watched a car pull up. A younger man got out. The coach approached the young man to try to tell him how the night went, Jerry stood alone and waited. The younger man is Jerry’s counselor.
Jerry is a foster kid that is staying somewhere else other than his own home. His own home may not even exist anymore. There is no way to find out. The counselor shared a tiny bit with the coach to help him understand. The counselor was Jerry’s transportation for the night.
The words “I suck as a pitcher. I am no good.” rang in the ears of the coach all week. Last night they rang in my ears too. As he told me the story my heart went out to Jerry. He didn’t show at the game.
It is just easier to stay home than to face any dumb pitcher’s mound again. To have to face other ‘families’ and demonstrated ‘family life’ – i.e. other guys getting their dads to hug them is too hard for a 12 year old.
Reflection…
Baseball is a parody of life for me. Team work should be there – but often isn’t. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Sometimes people let you down and other times ‘you suck’. And when ‘you suck’ a little shoulder rubbing sure helps. And at 12 years old you need a parent or someone to just say, “It will be okay.”
More often than not I know what Jerry feels. I guess that is why I have a lump in my throat for him when he didn’t show up for the game last night.
My prayer…today…
God, I hurt like crazy as I hear of Jerry’s story. As I witnessed his shoulders slumped and his hat over his face I knew what he felt like. God, I know that I likely can’t be there for Jerry personally, but I pray that some one will care for him as he approaches the next steps through to manhood. And God… if another Jerry comes my way, please let me see and understand so that I can be there to rub his shoulders and say it will be okay. Thanks God…. Murray
~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
1 Comments:
I have a lump in my throat too Murray and I shed a tear as I read about “Jerry”, it caused me to cry out to God on his behalf.
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