Taking One for the Team

"Little League baseball is a very good thing, because it keeps the parents off the street." Yogi Berra

My older son was a pitcher in Little League, and he was good. Very good. One of his fears was that he would hit the batter with the ball when he was pitching. It might have happened a time or two, but it was uncommon because he was exceptionally accurate. My son was and is a gentle person. Hitters on the opposing teams feared him, but it was not because he was mean and might hit them with the ball. They were mostly concerned about striking out.

 Baseball has a rule that if you are up to bat and are hit by the ball being pitched, you automatically get on first base. Taking one for the team. It happens. Accidentally and sometimes sort of, kind of, on purpose. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels admits to hitting Washington Nationals player Bryce Harper on purpose, in the small of the back, with his 93 mph fast ball. He has been suspended for five games, and has been fined an unknown amount of money. Well. He's honest. I'll give him that.

Twenty-eight-year-old Hamels says it's an old school way of welcoming the nineteen-year-old rookie to baseball. I checked out Hamels' website (www.colehamels.com.) Last year he held a pitching clinic for children. Each child was promised one-on-one time with Hamels, and the kids were taught "pitching techniques, nutrition, and the 'mental toughness' of pitching."

The website doesn't say if he's holding a clinic this year. As a mom, I would have to think twice about sending my kid there. I am all for mental toughness, in sports and in life. I think that mental toughness suggests good character, something Cole Hamels is sadly lacking.

Susan