Like many Americans, summer, for me, is synonymous with baseball. All my life I’ve been a baseball fan. Some of my brightest memories as a child are sitting in the stands with my dad at Dodger Stadium. My brother and I would drag along our mitts with the full expectation that if a foul ball came our way, by golly, we were going to catch it. We would order a legendary foot-long Dodger dog and let my dad finish most of it as we’d already moved on to the Cracker Jacks and peanuts. At that age it was mostly about the food and spending a fun night under the bright lights with my dad, but when I think about those magical nights now I know a lifelong love was forming.
When I moved to Grand Coulee and heard about a summer softball league, I was eager to play. There is something wholesome and carefree about playing baseball on a hot summer night. It also takes some guts. Not everyone played sports in high school and not everyone is blessed with superior hand-eye coordination. I played sports in high school, but unfortunately the superior hand-eye coordination skipped me over. One of my biggest lessons of the summer was that just because you love something, doesn’t mean you know how to do it. Putting theory into practice is a difficult thing.
This year the Grand Coulee summer softball league had over 180 players in the league. I roundly applaud all teams and all players. It’s not always an easy thing to make room in a busy schedule to get outside simply for the fun of it. There are commitments to juggle, mitts to find, injuries to nurse, kids to take care of, lawns to mow and countless other justifications. Yet still people came out every week to play with their team to have fun, get some exercise, meet new people and possibly win a game or two.
Based on what I saw on the field this summer, I would say most teams landed somewhere in between “just out to have fun” and “out to win,” but I think all teams had the intention of doing both. As an athlete most of my life, I’ve always had a healthy competitive spirit. In fact, I think most people do; everyone likes to win. With that in mind, was it possible to simply “have fun” playing softball? If you are competitive, even in the slightest degree, is it possible to have fun if you are losing? At what point does competitive spirit become a disadvantage to having fun?
I’ve always believed that competitive spirit is a great attribute to have. It can inspire you to do better than you thought you could, motivate you to push harder and encourage you to continue when you thought you were through. Perhaps, as with many things, there is simply some give and take. For the sake of something that is strictly for fun, competitive spirit is great as long as it allows you to be a good sport, lose gracefully, and still enjoy your night.
I also fervently hope that there is a way to be competitive without seriously injuring ourselves. This season in the Grand Coulee softball league there were many minor and some major injuries. Is it necessary to slide into base when we are just out here to have fun? Even the best slides will probably result in a scrape and some bruising. And occasionally, a bone is broken.
It may be the end of the softball season but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the end of getting outside and playing in the sun with our friends and neighbors. And who knows, maybe that carefully cultivated competitive spirit will come in handy again next year.
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