SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

"GRAND SLAM!" by (me!) sandra, tvgp

i really did see a grand slam  -real life. yesterday morning.   my son was on 3rd when it was hit..  what i can tell you, is that if my son makes it to first base..  whether he walks or runs or crawls..  he'll be crossing home plate

there's another beautiful sports analogy gift wrapped in here..

i'll help you find it.  'cuz one of my sons strengths is..  making it from one plate to the next.  he's fast and he's determined.  nothing do i delight in more, than watching him at a base, when the pitcher is throwing to the batter..  and my son is in position to steal

that crouch! knees bent.. arms out..  head forward. eyes everywhere at once.  hangin' out at his favorite catch-me-if-you-can distance from the plate.  hyper-ready for that one false move..

"gone!"   pitcher over-throws and before he can even get the ball back..  jack's at second  -or third.  or across home plate

so yesterday..  well, i'll confess a certain..  how can i call it?  well, let me just say, i'd much rather see my son hit a single than walk..     but, "good eye" and all that, he made his way to first base

i looked at him on first..  and the way all intuitive mom's can do..  i said to myself  -now the fun. he'll be crossing home plate..

and here's the part where i give away how much of an active parent i am; and am not..  -because, do i know all the kids names, numbers, positions   -no.

next kid gets up.. gets on base; jack's now at 2nd.   next kid gets up; jack's now on 3rd.

bases loaded as i've learned to say

don't ask me how many outs..  who cares.  the important thing, is that next kid up..   HE SLAMS IT!

i follow the ball with my eyes into the beautiful blue sky and by the time i look back, jack has already crossed home plate and is heading back to the dug out    -then i watch the next kid come across the plate..    and another!  

everyone is certain the kid at bat hit a triple..  and "wow!"    -you can hear the cry of "hold at 3rd!  hold at 3rd!"   -cuz by this time, ball has made its way back to the infield, but no...

kid doesn't hold at 3rd.   kid gets in a pickle!   runs back toward 3rd.. no!   runs toward home plate... no!   back toward 3rd..

and then, appears to think..   f-it..   and just goes for it...  dances his way write around the glove that's chasing him.. runs, slides and referee gestures and hollers, "safe!"

1st grand slam i've ever seen in my son's  -i don't know what..  7 years of baseball.

side note:  this changed the score on the board to read 16 to 4.       and there's another sports analogy for you..  find it yourself.

anyway..   exciting.   i couldn't be present for the entire game, but i was present for that moment, and so; there you have it.   

if i hadn't already been craving my time at the plate.. this sealed the deal, as they say.    -we already know from my short story collections of my true life experiences   -i tapped danced my way through school; no sports.

and i know today..  dance is sport, and all that.. but back in my day..  dance was for stages, and sports was for athletes.   and at all the company picnics in my adult life..  no one organized a show; everyone organized a baseball game, so..

on my list of things the valedictorians fail to mention..

still, i love what see when it comes to sports..  everything it can teach.  all the life analogies tucked inside everything from practice, to competition, winning to losing, and    -/hurting here for the write words,     -and, "so much more!"

i've such a long list of favorite sport movies..  rudy! of course, pistol pete, birth of a legend!   -the passion...  the heart...  the determination...  destinies.   remember the titans!  hoosiers!  rocky!  -the soccer one with matt damon and morgan freeman..  

learn so much from the players/coaches i've seen interviewed by my charlie rose  -and it doesn't matter what sport.. tennis, baseball, football, wrestling, soccer, golf...

basketball.

greats are greats.   and so even though i myself have never played..  and lack the vocabulary and experience to use the analogies i do   -i do it anyway.   awkward but often.

and i've been thinkin'...   /imagine that.

thinkin' for a long time now, how i need to get myself to the batting cages.   -thank here, my uncle ernie, who recently died, after a 18+ year battle w/parkinsons,  -for introducing me to the batting cages in my youth..  think i was 9 or 10 or so..

loved it!   -but haven't been back since.   -so, 36 years later; this hunger.   to hit a ball with a bat.

and i want to recommend it for ALL writers.   here's the thing..   as i explained to my daughter: 
 -when you are a writer

and may i say, this is even more true, if you are a blogger.    -and you've been at it for a good while.   well,

you have an internal feeling inside; writer's compass...   artist's score card of the sentient kind, that allows you to know

KNOW

when,   -here's comes the analogy...  when you've struck out, hit a single, hit a double, a triple or in fact, you've

SLAMED IT! out of the park...  bases loaded; grand slam!

but this is easy and apparent in baseball; unquestionable sometimes  /based on the referee..  and playback videos

point is..  

posted by SHE @ 12:18 PM