Play Ball!

Well, baseball season is back. No, not the Major Leagues; they're already two months into the season. I'm talking about local kids baseball. We had our first practice tonight, and when I say 'we,' I'm including me, because I'm the coach. Yes, I'm coaching Tanner this year. I'm not exactly the 'head' coach, since I've never done that before and I have no clue how to run a practice, but I'm going to learn. Fortunately, there are a couple of other dads who are helping out as well, so we'll get through it.

So, this team is the Western Mariners, and has kids from all over the western part of Prince Edward Island that live too far from Summerside to play on those teams. And there are only ten kids on the team. It's going to be an interesting year, especially if any kids miss games. I'm not expecting us to be league champions or anything; there's no point in having high expectations when you have no clue what your players are capable of yet.

I'm going to do my very best not to favor Tanner; he didn't play at all last year, and he's out of practice. But he's getting his pitching groove back, and although there's at least a week before we play any games, I get the sense he's going to be the team's best pitcher. We'll see; it's only been one practice, after all, but I've only got three kids who even want to pitch, so there's not a lot to pick from. I'll probably have to draft someone to pitch at some point, because with the pitch-count rules in effect, there's no way I'm going to get away with having only three pitchers all season.

I'm going to Charlottetown on Saturday for the big coaches' meeting to get the schedule and everything else I need to run a team. I'm looking forward to it; I don't generally get too far east of Summerside, so going to 'the big city' around here is a bit of a treat.

So, it's time to grab some popcorn and peanuts, and get ready to yell at some umpires. I'm going to go practice dirt-kicking for a bit. Gotta be ready for my coaching debut, after all.