I find great pleasure in listening to parents brag about their kids' athletic ability and then watching their reaction when the kids' performance doesn't match up to their parental bragging.
It is awesome.
I chuckle inside.
I was talking to a parent who told me that his son has great natural baseball ability and should definitely be on a majors team. His evidence of his child's awesomeness was that his son could get the ball across the plate. He said "he didn't throw strikes, but he did get it across the plate".
And Gabriel walks up right about that time and tells the guy that his brother threw 3 strikes and 2 balls when he tried out.
Ooops.
Mr. Bragger happened to be standing next to me at batting practice the other day. He was again sharing with me how amazing his son was. Two minutes later the son was in the cage and was having some trouble connecting with the ball....at all.
Bragger dad was befuddled.
He mentioned to me how he didn't know what was going on, his son ALWAYS kills the ball when they are playing together.
Is it wrong that I seriously enjoy this little exchange?
Perhaps it is so entertaining to me because I highly doubt either of the boys will become professional baseball players. They play baseball because they love the game. They may be better than a lot, but there are also a lot better than them. I don't take any of that business too seriously.
I want the kids to learn the game, improve their skills, get a fair shot at playing time, and enjoy themselves. $250 bats and personal trainers are for another family, not this one.
So when I hear parents talk about their superstars as if I have just witnessed the next Babe Ruth catch a ball right before my very eyes, I am entertained.
I have seen some of the hard knocks of baseball. Matt's brother invested quite a few years of his life into baseball, there was hope, there was potential, there were scouts, but there are a limited number of people that ever get to step foot on the MLB field and even less that get to stay there for any length of time.
I think God likes to give us all a little pride check every once in awhile. As soon as I brag to someone about how my kid is ALWAYS polite, he'll fart on them. If I dare brag about how amazing he is in math, he'll fail a test. It just happens that way, so I have learned to be very cautious.
Do I praise my kids. Oh yes. But praising my kid and trying to convince other people that they got the short end of the stick because their kid isn't as good as mine? Bad idea.
The world of little league baseball is loaded with parents who know, I mean know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their child is the best thing ever, so I am in for some super entertaining weeks ahead.
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