Thursday, Mar. 03, 2005
Baseball tryouts, day 3, posted at 6:59 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I'm not sure if the going to bed at 8:30 worked, because now I'm home and all I can think about was how nice that nine hours of sleep was last night, and how it wouldn't be so bad if I just did it again.Sometimes, in my head, I try to prevent myself from even thinking a lazy thought, because even thinking that lazy thought creates a boulder rolling down the mountain situation. It picks up snow and debris, eventually making the idea seem not lazy, but healthy. I'm too strong to withstand the idea at this point. This happens often in the morning when the buzz of my alarm clock beckons me. I go back to sleep. It almost happened this afternoon, as during 7th period I began to think to myself, "Maybe I should just cancel practice today. It is really, really cold out." I continued on with the lunacy: "I don't want any kid to get hurt on the ice. I don't want them to get the flu from being outside in the freezing cold two days in a row."
I stopped it there, worried that the idea would gain enough strength to overpower me. We ended up having a productive practice, from 3:30 until 5:30, all outside. We're still practicing on one-half of the tennis courts, and that sucks, but we were also able to get into the batting cage a bit today. My arm is happily sore from throwing batting practice, and my mind is fairly at ease with the decisions I have to make over the next few days. I've decided on the first twenty kids I'm carring. Only about eight other kids are in the mix, and I'll be able to keep two of those eight. Out of those eight, four are my students, and it's disappointing to have to cut them. One will have to go; he's never played baseball before and it clearly shows. (I'm not sure why a kid decides he wants to play baseball for the first time trying out for Varsity Baseball. Maybe I inspire that sort of confidence in them. Or maybe he thought his athleticism would carry him through.)
I've also moved an ex-catcher over to third base. He's a kid who I like a lot - he doesn't know it though, he thinks I don't like him - who I've coached for three years now. He's gone from a very pudgy (re: fat) freshman to a fairly muscular junior. He's always been a catcher. However, he's pretty slow and lets a lot of balls get through. Last season, an upstart freshman took his job and ran with it. This kid is a quientessential team leader and a captain on the field. He's a three-sport athlete whose probably going to graduate in the top ten of his class - one of those really good kids. He's pretty much won the catcher job. But the other kid, the one I also like, well, he's got a good bat, and he's a pretty smart player as well. I thought he might be good at third base. He doesn't like the switch, and so far it's just a trial, but third base is wide open and he's looking alright over there.
The other edge of drama is his father asked me last year if I was sitting him because he had complained about the uniforms. No, it was just because he was outplayed. This year, I'm giving the kid a chance to win a position on his own and not have to play parttime at another spot. However, I think he thinks he's being demoted. He'd never say it, though; he's a very respectful kid in every way. I can just tell.
Enough baseball drama. Things are going well, and they're pretty fun. First game is March 21. I love being this busy.