Thursday, May. 13, 2004
James, posted at 9:03 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com There's a kid on my baseball team named James. He's a senior and is going to the University of Delaware next year. There, or Deleware State. I can't quite remember. But I met him last year, and he didn't make much of an impression with me. I thought he'd be a good catcher for us, but after we put him in a few games, it was clear that he was a "blinker," meaning he blinked whenever the hitter swung, and we could never train it out of him. It turns out his natural baseball instincts were low, and he didn't get that much playing time after the beginning of the year.This year, I almost cut him. I came within a few hours of doing so, but ended up keeping him when I kept the big team. I told him, "James, there will hardly be any playing time for you this year. I want to be completely honest. You're going to be on the B squad, and will have to work really hard to stay focused and positive." Seeing that he was disappointed, I said, "You should be pissed off. Keep working hard and things will turn around." I half expected him to quit, and I heard he asked the Lacrosse coach if he had any openings. He didn't make eye contact with me for a couple of days.
However, James has stuck it out and has had a remarkable year. He had one at-bat in elevent games, striking out, but he's been such a positive force on the bench and on the team that I made him our third team captain about halfway through the year. He's helped the team on the field only a little bit - he pinch runs fairly often, because he's smart and pretty quick for a big guy - but his actions on the bench and with his teammates speak volumes. He's a bundle of positive energy. And, he can even see the problems that others have while hitting or fielding. He can't fix it on himself, but he can recognize it in others. He's someone who, on the one day he wasn't at practice, the whole team seemed different. Much quieter (the guy has a mouth on him that keeps going and going and going), with much less verve.
I told James today that he should consider going into teaching. Forget the fact that generationally, black people just aren't going into teaching much right now at all, and this is something I'd like to see change soon (my school, for example, is 95% black but its faculty is 80% white). It had nothing to do with that, though. The guy just has that gift of energy and, frankly, compassion, that would make a great teacher. He told me he was going to major in Social Work, which makes me almost as happy. I'm sure that field needs energetic, compassionate folks as well.
Of all the students graduating this year, it's James I'll miss the most. E. and MZ are two great kids as well - and I'm going to have a tough time deciding which is our team MVP - but neither has made the mark that James has. If we lose tomorrow, it will be the last time I'll coach him (as well as E. and MZ and Irv, who is heading to the U. of Miami to major in Calculus!).
Bittersweet times. I'll miss these guys, as ready as I am to have more free time in my life.
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The Blogger Meetup seemed fun. Maybe someday...