Leftie

So, it's baseball season. [FYI, the AL did have the audacity to win the All-Star Game yet again, but it at least took 15 innings to do so. Wild Man was allowed to stay downstairs to watch the end of the game, but he fell asleep in the top of the 15th and awoke just to hear the very end of the game. Mr. Math Tutor and I had already gone to bed.] Wild Man is playing for the blue team in town this year. He's in the Middle League - non-travelling - which means that his team plays once a week in the evening. If he plays on a travelling team next year, then he'll also play during the day (out of town) and have extra practices. Those teams are more competetive and require more commitment. Wild Man was barely old enough for the Middle League this year, so we chose not to have him try out for the travelling league.

Anyway, the point of this post is that my Wild Man is left-handed, which has earned him the nickname, "Leftie". In his league, everyone learns to pitch, so he gets to pitch a couple of innings every few games. The coach yells out at him, calling him "Leftie". From a mother's perspective, it's adorable (although I'm sure Wild Man would have other adjectives).

One of the great things about baseball this year is that Wild Man's (aka Leftie's) coach is a coach from the high school and he really knows his baseball. He is also incredibly positive with these boys. That is so critical right now since this isn't a really competetive league (like the travelling leagues). The coach is always giving them positive feedback while telling them how they can improve what they're doing. He never calls anyone a negative name. When he's telling them how to improve, he's also telling them how great it is that they work hard, etc. Yep, I'm happy with his baseball experience this year.