{"id":2750,"date":"2012-08-24T07:16:01","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T14:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2012-08-23T22:20:59","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T05:20:59","slug":"a-baseball-game-is-simply-a-nervous-breakdown-divided-into-nine-innings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/a-baseball-game-is-simply-a-nervous-breakdown-divided-into-nine-innings\/","title":{"rendered":"Baseball Is Simply A Nervous Breakdown Divided Into Nine Innings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.
\n~Dave Barry (on the perils of motherhood.)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

The muppets have been learning the concept of t-ball over the past several weeks. Or, more accurately, taking a primary-colored plastic bat larger than the small children wielding it, and gently tapping the foam ball from atop its primary-colored perch.<\/p>\n

For the past two nights, Destroy has spent hours of his evening with bat and ball. Or asking us to \u201cHit the bat! Hit the bat!\u201d before fielding the ball. (I may be playing fetch with my son. Either way.) Proportional to attention span of a toddler (slightly shorter than that of a fruit fly), hours of an evening is pretty much akin to the entirety of spring training.<\/p>\n

Have you heard about the recent scandal in the Show? Two Bay Area ballplayers got busted for performance enhancing drugs. As someone who once worked in sports marketing, I tend to be of the opinion that professional athletes are adults \u2013 so they can do whatever they want.<\/p>\n

As a mom, I\u2019m not real pleased with the example they set for impressionable kiddos striving to be big league ballplayers. Especially since we\u2019ve already had a Stream steroid scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Seriously. Two rounds of steroids before they were even born. And countless other formulas and substances to help increase body mass and size.<\/p>\n

And it shows.<\/p>\n

Kid has an ARM! No joke. Balls, toy cars, produce, small appliances \u2013 get hurled across the room with impressive velocity (think the kid at the end of Jerry McGuire). Generally at the head of one\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re killin\u2019 me smalls\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

So, we decided to take the boys to experience their first ballgame. And it just so happened our good friend was playing in a championship season-ending t-ball game.<\/p>\n

Only, in the words of Bill Engvall<\/a>, t-ball is like baseball; but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

The coaches were out on the field \u2013 directing the whirling dervishes where to go. A large mesh Casey at the Bat target net guarded first base so there would be no unintended consequences with a small person attempting to throw a spherical object at a moving object.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey! Where\u2019d my infielder go?\u201d shouted the coach, before darting toward the dugout in search of pre-K kid who\u2019d gone off to explore greener pastures. Literally.<\/p>\n

Perhaps he was interested in the game the third baseman was watching. Or maybe he was just interested in the center fielders pirouetting abilities. (Ball caps had been replaced by an oversized glove as the little sportsman fouetted relentlessly among the dandelions.)<\/p>\n

Bystanders, Search and Destroy, had been offered donuts upon arrival. Apparently it was giveaway day at the ballpark. And boy did they put those sticky sweets DOWN.<\/p>\n

Normally I would have been concerned by such levels of sugar consumption, however the glaze served to create a suction coating over their tiny bodies. So as the two bleacher-creatures scaled the rickety aluminum scaffolding, they were semi-protected with sticky hands similar to that of a tree frog. (Don\u2019t give them any ideas.)<\/p>\n

Of course he ultimately fell.<\/p>\n

Destroy, my rotund little 30-pounder, got stuck between the bleacher seats. Stuck. Between. This displeased him. So that was fun. Then we left.<\/p>\n

Twenty fun-filled minutes of \u201cbaseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tonight the A\u2019s game was on TV. I asked the boys if they wanted to cuddle and watch some green collar boys get shutdown because they can\u2019t hit and one of their pitchers is suspended due to banned substances (see how I tied this whole post together). Because sometimes, in the eye of the hurricane that my twin boys comprise, you need snuggles to remind you why you\u2019re playing this game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBAYBLLLLLL!!!\u201d squealed Destroy.<\/p>\n

What followed was a toddler\u2019s literal interpretation of \u201cI\u2019m taking my ball and going home.<\/p>\n

Destroy removed the ball from its precarious perch on the tee. He tucked two blue foam bats and one half (toddler) sized yellow plastic bat under his arm. He picked up a backup ball.<\/p>\n

And marched across the living room with all his sporting equipment. \u201cNo ni-ni,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

So he played clubhouse manager down the hall (treating the trucks to a Kraft table spread of FISHIES) while I explained the finer points of America\u2019s pastime to Search.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of like t-ball. But only not.\u00a0Of course some three decades later, maybe I\u2019m learning that game too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to complete my nervous breakdown. It’s like a perfect game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base. ~Dave Barry (on the perils of motherhood.) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[13,23,394],"tags":[56,1005,837,229],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-Im","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2466,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/an-introduction-to-athletics\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":0},"title":"An Introduction to Athletics","date":"May 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So the boys have Hand, Mouth and Foot Disease (HMFD). Yay. (Not to be confused with hoof-and-mouth disease \u2013 which afflicts well, animals with hooves.) I have been assured that HMFD is a common childhood virus of the coxsackievirus genre (capable of taking out an entire preschool class in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destroy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Intro-to-Athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4260,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/little-league-opening-day-a-play-by-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":1},"title":"Little League Opening Day. A Play-by-Play","date":"March 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":" Thank you for joining us out here today. I know we\u2019ve all been eagerly looking forward to Little League 2015 opening day! We appreciate you coming out to support us here on the t-ball field and have no doubt the energy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Baseball-cards-300x212.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4279,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/whos-on-first-adventures-in-t-ball-game-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":2},"title":"Who\u2019s On First: Adventures in T-ball Game 3","date":"March 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On game day, the primary purpose of a T-ball coach is to consistently corral a baker\u2019s dozen of athletes all aged 4 to 5. Thirteen small peeps, all dressed exactly the same, all in constant motion, while allegedly learning a mental game of skill. Throw a pair of twins into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Tball_Game-3_03-21-15_05-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4242,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/play-ball-kinda\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":3},"title":"Play Ball (Kinda)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0","date":"March 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The one constant through all the years, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past. It reminds of us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Baseball-Cleats_01-18-15-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4307,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/battle-with-the-backstop\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":4},"title":"Battle with the Backstop","date":"April 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"T-ball is far more dangerous than I initially anticipated. Surprisingly, this has nothing to do with balls or bats. I presume those dangers come into play once the wee ones graduate into actual baseball. T-ball practice is on Wednesday night. At this age, practice is still exciting because they\u2019re still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Backstop-Baseball-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4460,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/little-league-observations-of-coach-pitch\/","url_meta":{"origin":2750,"position":5},"title":"Little League: Observations of Coach Pitch","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When Major League Baseball kicked off the 2016 season, my sons insisted we watch the San Jose Sharks game instead of the Oakland Athletics\u2019 game 2. I immediately questioned all genetics. But still, I could tell there was minor improvement and enhanced interest occurring on the diamond. Coach-pitch, albeit still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Angels-300x244.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}