Baseball Mom

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I hate to admit it but I am that mom in the stands.  You know, the screaming lunatic.  The one you want to remind “it is just a game.”  The one all the coaches probably hate.  Yep!  That’s me.

I try to control myself.  I try not to get to into the game so much, but sometimes it just gets the best of me.  I wish it were only when Tyler smacks a ball way out into the outfield or he makes a double play, but it’s not.  I’m also screaming “GET THE BALL”  “RUN HARD”  “DON’T YOU LET THAT BALL GET BY YOU!!”

AND, it isn’t just at my kid :)  Last weekend there was a lot of built up frustration (I’ll get to that in a minute) & I just couldn’t hold it in any longer…  I flew out of my seat screaming, “OH COME ON!!  THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!!”  Then there was the week before when a coach on the opposing team told his pitcher to hit the batter.  2 batters in a row!!  Guess whose kid was #2 to be hit?  I totally lost it when I saw the coach laugh as Ty was hit.  Yeah, I’m pretty sure they would have had to of pulled me off of him had he of done it again this week when we played them.  I did warn the ump that I thought I could take him & I wasn’t afraid.  Just sayin’  :)  I’m not kidding!  Just find me on facebook & check my status updates Saturday afternoons.

Tyler has played baseball faithfully since he was 3 years old (no, I wasn’t this bad then – it’s been a slow process.  The older he gets the more competitive it gets.)  He has had some really good coaches, some not so good coaches . . . Momma D. has even coached his team before.  Yes, we are still friends :)  Last year, he was totally spoiled with having 3 awesome coaches that saw some great potential in his catching & truly coached him & helped him improve a lot.  Their team made it through 2 rounds of the play-offs & were runners up for the championship game.  They did awesome! 

This season Tyler is playing fall baseball for the first time.  And his coaches . . . let’s just say, they are more than likely my least favorite.  ;)  And I’m pretty sure they know it.  I am a screaming lunatic in the stands, but I really try not to be the other baseball mom.  You know, the one that try’s to tell the coach what to do.  At the beginning of the season Tyler asked his coach if he could catch (this was his way of telling a coach he has never played for that he is a catcher).  He told him not to ever ask him again.  He hasn’t.  Next, Saturday is our last games (double-header) & Tyler has not been aloud to catch one time.  Guess who is catching the entire game for ALL the games?  One of the other coaches kid.  Nice.  I’m really okay with that.  He is older, probably has more experience, blah blah blah, BUT there are times he has not played good at all!!!!!  Or we have been so far ahead he could have swapped with another player.  And you’d definitely think one Saturday when they had a double-header & played from 2-8pm he would have gotten to take a break.  Nope.

So, my frustration came out.  *There is way more to the story but you get the idea – The 3 coaches kids are playing the 3 main positions & are only rotated out with each other if at all.  Very very very seldom is another kid pulled in to replace them.  Did I mention the kid that is catching has been using Tyler’s gear?  Yeah.  My kid is cool like that.  Very thoughtful of us to spend $150 on catcher’s gear & haul it around to practice & games for the coaches kid to use.  Anyway, I called the coach & I told him exactly why I was so upset.

I’m not sure he got it.  I wasn’t calling so that he would let Tyler catch.  As nice as it would be for him to play the position he loves most just once, my disappointment was not that we weren’t getting our way.  I was livid that he hasn’t even looked at my son.  Not once has he said, “Ty, put your gear on & let me see what ya got.”  Or even to watch him catch & tell him what he needs to work on.  You know, to COACH him & not just use him as another body to fill in spots on his 3 man team. 

So, all that to ask – I know I’m that mom, but am THAT mom too?