Another Year, Another Peso

Since 5 January we have been practicing baseball.  This week we start playing games. There will be a stretch over the next few weeks where we play 8 games in 15 days.  As a player I would have loved that.  As a coach it's lots of organizing and time away from home.  Many miles on bus trips. This year we go to Sierra High in Tollhouse.  It will be our longest trip. I am wary of long bus journeys because of the shenanigans of past teams. I had a pair of players pull a on their belly, commando style, under the seats crawl from the back of the bus to the front one time.  And that was on a short trip.

This last Saturday was the 2nd Annual Alumni baseball game.  This year the alumni played each other, odd years versus even.  Quite a spectacle to see brother against brother, and friend against friend. The oldest was a 61 year old catcher that is a former coach.  There were five that graduated last year.  Three sets of brothers.  It was interesting to realize that I was the second oldest;  maybe that is why I didn't do much but coach and talk to former players.

The player-coach relationship is full of many emotions, especially during a player's career.  To see these men come back and watch them play again was fun.  To hear them yell and kid other men, and have their families yell from the stands was good.  As the game wound down and the players didn't have the lively step they started with, it was nice to realize that you were a part of something that has lasted for many years.  And to wish you owned a massage parlor or stock in BenGay.