“You could be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball.” ~ Cal Ripken, Jr.
Seeing kids play baseball is like reliving your own life when you were a kid. You look at them out there in the grass and it reminds you of something you did during a game a long time ago. (Like dropping the easy fly ball to right. Yup, sometimes the memories are harsh ones.)
But, sometimes you can look at a kid out there in the grass, playing a kid’s game, and you can see the future. Their future.
You can watch a four-year-old kid on the diamond and you can see the game Babe Ruth played nearly 100 years ago. You can see the first game you ever went to. You can see the first ball you ever held in your hand and you can remember exactly how it felt, exactly how it smelled.
Embed from Getty ImagesBabe Ruth, 1932
You can watch that same four-year-old kid on the mound and you can wonder where his future will take him.
Or, you can invent his future. And, it’s always a good one. And, he never drops the ball.
It was Grant’s birthday when I found him and his dad playing baseball. It was, his dad told me, the only thing he wanted to do on his birthday … play ball. That was a couple years ago. The original post is here.
Grant didn’t know me and he didn’t pay any attention to me. He didn’t pose. He just played.
I haven’t seen him since.
To see a four-year-old love the game is also to see our future. And, there’s still baseball in it. Whew.
In response to the Word Press Daily Post Photo Challenge: Future. See more challenge photos here.
