By Dan Brosgol
All winter long, 5:45 in the afternoon was a cold, dark time of day. And don’t I know it, as my work schedule usually had me running on the frozen, dark, icy streets after the sun went down.
But now that April break is in the rearview mirror, 5:45 pm in Bedford no longer means dinner; it means baseball.
With baseball season in full swing, in our house the regular routine is out the window, as Mondays and Wednesdays my oldest plies his trade for the American League A’s, and Tuesdays and Thursdays we switch to my second grader and the Farm League Timber Rattlers. And that doesn’t include Friday night games, Saturday and Sunday practices . . . so you could call baseball a seven-days-a-week endeavor most weeks.
As if that wasn’t enough, we’re also balancing 2nd grade intramural soccer, U12 Bedford travel soccer, and club soccer for the boys, and ballet for the almost-Kindergarten little princess. Plus the 21-month old. Plus the imminent arrival of baby #5.
Yes, we’re busy. . . . cabin fever no longer.
For this writer, spring is the finest season. Sports and flowering trees are in the air, school is winding down, and summer lies just around the corner. The non-stop parade of activities can be exhausting, but seeing fellow coaches, parents, and friends just about every day is definitely a rewarding social experience, and being lucky enough to coach my boys in baseball is something I will always treasure.
All things being equal, there’s really no place I’d rather be than in the dugout or on the field, watching my sons and the other boys whom I’m lucky enough to coach, seeing them not only improve over the course of a season, but over the course of their childhood. I took a picture on Monday of my older son pitching, and PicStitched it with a picture of him on the mound last year, and the juxtaposition was amazing—what a difference a year has made!
With the late start to the season, baseball will be going until late June, so next time you’re driving by Page Field, JGMS, Davis School, Lane School, Hartwell Field, or any other field in the early evening, pull over and watch kids being kids and parents catching up after a long, cold winter spent indoors. Better yet, stop by the All-Star Festivities on May 31 or Championship Saturday on June 21 for one of those apple-pie, Rockwellian scenes—green grass, white chalk, and kids playing baseball.
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