Let’s Play Ball America!

I took my two sons to the park last weekend to enjoy the nice weather. Shortly after we arrived, my boys joined up with a group of kids and started a baseball game. It was the cutest thing; none of the players was above the age of ten, and their game only slightly resembled a real baseball game. But they all appeared to be in touch with the main point of the game – which is to have fun.
Laughter filled the air as little people ran around chasing hit balls all over the place. Well kids will be kids, and it wasn’t long before the disagreements began. They argued about foul balls and whether or not a kid was safe or out. It was organized chaos at its finest and it was great! Then; without warning the game came to a screeching halt. Suddenly I was looking at something that reminded me more of our great American politicians than a bunch of little kids playing the great American past time. This is a true story… partially.
More... It all began with a disagreement as one team had just gotten their final out. One of the kids on that team had the bright idea that the game would be improved if each team were now allowed four outs instead of three. A kid on the other team; who was ready to take his turn at bat, disagreed with this suggested change in rules. As the two kids started trying to convince each other to see their point, the rest of the kids started dividing among party lines, I mean based on team. Now instead of two kids disagreeing, it had become a team vs. team argument. As each team pleaded their case, I had to admit that some of their rhetoric, I mean persuasions sounded pretty darn good for a bunch of ten year olds. The disagreement grew a little heated and neither side showed signs of letting up, when finally one of the smaller kids started cry. He must have sensed the impending doom of the situation, because he yelled out “guys, can’t we please just play the game?”

Sadly the other children ignored him and continued to argue until finally one of the kids grabbed his ball and bat and started walking home. The baseball field was completely silent as everybody watched with long faces as the little boy walked away and never once looked back.
Nobody spoke for almost a full minute and then the arguing restarted with even more intensity. Now each team of kids blamed the other team for the state of the economy, I mean for ruining the game. No one took a look at the part that they played in the mess and no one was interested in considering the other parties perspective, I mean the other team’s views.

I gathered up my boys, had them say good-bye to their friends and then we headed home to get some food. During lunch, the boys started talking about the game ending argument. They were on opposing teams and each boy was convinced that his team was completely right and the other team was absolutely in the wrong. I had resolved to stay out of it, but at this point I could no longer help myself. I asked my oldest son “Why do you think that changing the rules to allow four outs was a good idea?” He’s a pretty smart kid and he answered confidently: “Because the game was going kind of slow and this would have made everything better." “Good answer” I said. Then I turned to my youngest and asked “Why do you think that keeping three outs was a good idea?” He may be the younger son but he’s no dummy. He said to me “Because dad, that’s the way you play the game. It’s not fair to change the rules in the middle of the game.” I told him that I could see his point also. I looked at both of them and said: “Well because nobody wanted to give a little and work together, the game ended and everybody lost. So do you think it was worth it in the end?” They both looked at me curiously. I could tell that they hadn’t thought much about the whole concept of compromise. So I waited as their little minds pondered the question. Then they looked at each other and then they looked back at me and said together: “No”. I gave them a proud papa smile. “My little boys are growing up.” I thought to myself.
I am grateful for the lessons that we learned today. When I think about it, that baseball game reminds me of the way that we adults can sometimes get caught up in the arguments or get confused by loyalty. It reminded me of how we can completely forget about fairness and even lose sight of the whole point of it all. When I think about this I start to feel just like the one little boy with the tears in his eyes. I just want to yell at the top of my lungs “C’mon guys can’t we just play ball.”