It's a tough job being a parent. Even tougher when your kid is on the roller-coaster of emotions called "sports". My oldest is in the baseball playoffs at the moment, and their team had an awesome second half of thier season to catapult them into a playoff spot. Last night was thier first game....and it ended in a loss, unfortunately. With a DOUBLE unfortunate of my son being last at bat, with two outs, and 2 on base, down by 4....but let me rewind....

It was a cool evening, when the sun finally decided to show its face in the late stages of the evening. Going into the 4th inning, the score was tied at 0-0. Both teams were struggling on offense, but playing great defense. It was a pretty evenly matched game, until the first bogus call came into play....an out was called at first, where the first baseman wasn't even close to the bag....seriously, and "blue" (the homeplate umpire) called him out, who wasn't in a good position to make a good call, btw - and from there things started to spiral downward. The calls from blue (who was a young kid in his own right - 18-19 maybe?) were all over the place, and inconsistant. That call seemed to put a dark cloud over the team, and one that they couldn't seem to shake until the last inning.

We were down 11-0 going into the final inning....part of me was hoping that they would just go 3 and out and put this disaster behind them....the other part of me was praying for a miracle....a miracle, that seemed improbable, but not entirely impossible. All the parents were cheering for the boys, trying to keep thier spirits, and chins up....that's when we got our first run - and we were on the board.

whew....not a shut out - things are okay now....then we batted another runner in, and another stole home on a wild pitch with only one out! Sweet - things are looking good! And then the second bogus call....one of the kids was called out at home, and the catcher didn't even have possesion of the ball....seriously? That was a seriously bad call. So now its 2 outs, and the kids continue to battle, and make a game of it...when my son steps to the plate.

It's 11-7, there are two kids on base, and two outs. Coach pulls him aside, and gives him a quick pep talk. Now, not to brag or anything, but he's got one hell of a swing, and has connected with a heavy bat on his fair share of balls - numerous triples, and a couple in park homers. With the right pitch, he could easily knock it out of the park....not kidding - the coaches, and other parents will agree with me on this, since they tell me the exact same thing every game...seriously.....anyway. He gets behind in the count, 2-1 - with the last swing narrowly missing. He's getting a little nerous, and what kid wouldn't? I can see it in his eyes that he wants to lay into it, he wants to be a hero, not a "loser" (in which he will NEVER be a loser in my eyes, btw). The next pitch, was in the dirt - ball two....now the count is 2-2....he steps out of the box, checks the signal from the coach - everyone is cheering him on with support....he just needs that one perfect pitch - just one.....he steps back into the box, eyes focused, and determined. They pitcher winds up and fires....the pitch comes across the plate at nose level....whew, he lives for another pitch!

But then we hear the heartbreak call - STRIKE!.....

Strike 3, game over.....

what!?....are you fuggin kidding me?.....A WHAT?!?!?!....now from my days playing hockey, there were always jokes about the 3 blind mice (ref and 2 linesmen) with always questionable calls (as far as penalties and such) - so bad calls are something I am used to....but nothing has ever compared to this....that call just plain sucked monkey butts.

As a parent you do whatever it takes to protect your children, but there are some things that you just cant protect from, or fix....and this was one of those instances. After the game I did my best to "fix" the situation - I put my arm around him looked him in the eye, and said "You didn't do anything wrong, and that was the worst call in the history of baseball. You did great, and I am proud of you! Now Chin Up!" The rest of the coaches, players, and parents did thier best to "console" him as well.

But the tears streamed down his face, he felt like he let everyone down.....and that is something that a parent can't fix.....and that is a heartbreaking feeling.

I'm proud of you, son....very, very proud of you.