Baseball Bein' Berry Berry Good to Us

When I was a kid, there was a skit on Saturday Night Live involving a
baseball player with limited command of the English language. His
signature phrase was "baseball been berry berry good to me."

Since April we have become increasingly absorbed into a long
standing old-town institution known as Greenbelt Baseball. With
the boy turning 9 this Spring, he (and we) graduated from machine
pitch to kid-pitch. Last year, I don't think it was even possible
to strike out. They just kept feeding balls into the machine and
aiming it right at the strike zone until a hit was obtained. Then
the many parents on the sideline would cheer and yell "run to
first base. No to FIRST base!!! No the other way, the other way!!!"
or similar. When the kids were fielding, it was quite something
to discover that they were actually paying attention if a hit came
their way. More often, they were playing in the dirt.

Not this year. About 15 minutes into the first practice I could tell:
these kids could really play baseball! Wow. Our team has several
talented pitchers, and they practice drills continuosly. Their two
coaches are very knowledgeable about the game, as well as
amazingly positive guys who each have just the right touch with
the 9-to-12-yr old boy crowd. I was a bit concerned that my boy
would get bowled over by the experience, much like Indianna
Jones must have felt with that six-foot diameter boulder barrelling
down on him. On the contrary, my Mr. Positive Thinking was
visibly delighted to be on a team with "real potential to win
the World Series" as he put it. I was all, like, "Huh? World Series?"
His team is now 12 and 1, with two weeks to go in the regular
season. Perhaps he was onto something that first day.

In addition to the impressive and delightful coaches, baseball has
introduced us to some of the coolest parents around. I've
lived in this town for 14 years but I have not come close to exhausting its
continously flowing potential of new and very interesting friends.
I hope I never do. Many of the folks in Greenbelt Baseball have
been a part of the program for generations. My boy's best friend's
Dad used to play on a team, and his Dad was the coach. And our
coaches? At least one of them was also on that team. And they
aren't the only ones. The city councilman who threw out one of
the first pitches used to play on a team with the coach of one
of the other teams. And it goes on and on. I'm amazed at how
many of these parents and coaches have known each other, and
spent time with each other at this baseball field, for as long as
they can remember. Their lives are tightly woven together for
decades. And yet they easily and warmly let "newcomers" like
us slide right in. That kind of community connection makes it
almost effortless to raise a child here. Surely it makes it seem
virtually worry-free to me. The lines between family, friends
and neighbors here seem very blurred compared to what it
was like in my childhood. And I am very very thankful for it.
It feels like everyone is looking out for everyone else.

I would be remiss if I didn't give a big shout-out to the kids
on the teams as well. From what I've seen, they are all amazingly
respectful of all the adults, and the younger kids. They are
genuinely nice. Know the meaning of the word "teamwork"
and love to play baseball.

So thank you, Greenbelt Baseball, for giving me yet another
reason to deeply adore this town. As someone said to me
a few days ago: "Greenbelt-you either get it, or you don't." I
totally get it.