He was on a little league team surrounded by "jocks" most much bigger than he. They stuck him out in right field figuring he'd do the least "damage" (which was exactly the wrong place to put a kid who 'thinks to much' but reacts well.) He'd miss the ball almost always, couldn't throw hard enough to get it to base. You know the drill.
He couldn't bat worth a damn.Struck out nearly every time, or barely hit it and was out before he could get halfway to 1st. All the other boys rolled their eyes when he got up to bat. Some of the meaner ones said some awful things to him, of course out earshot of the coach or parents.
So there was one game. We were short players, playing with just 7 because of some band concert (so automatic out every time batting rolled around to the missing players). They had no choice but to do "something" but figured they were going to lose anyway. Coach decided to let my son, who had been absolutely begging for a shot a short-stop, the chance to do it. (Since they were going to lose anyway.) So this really really bad right fielder was put in at short-stop. WTH, people were thinking. Then, suddenly there he was. Playing like a demon. Like the best short-stop they'd ever seen. Scooping up or catching every ball that came near him, zinging it to every base - exactly the RIGHT base to throw it to - without even thinking. Out after out after out. But that's not the best part.
He got up to bat. Kids rolled there eyes, most parents averted theirs. You could hear the sigh go through the crowd. Easy out, some brat yelled. But then he hit it. He hit it hard. It flew over 2nd base bounced and rolled. And he ran. Moms, Dads, other kids started screaming - "he hit the ball, he hit the ball! Then he made it to 1st. People were jumping up and down by then. OMG he's on base! Then he rounded first and made it to 2nd. The crowd went wild. He made it to second! Oh WOW!" I was crying. Some of the other moms were crying. Hell, even the coach teared up. He HIT THE BALL! And he got on base - a double even.
And then . . . he stole third. Everyone started screaming, Wow, Look at that! And THEN, he started to steal home. You could feel the let down. The excitement drain out of the crowd. People yelling, "go back go back", but then . . . he slid into home and scored. And the celebration really began.
After the game the coach walked up to him and said, "where did YOU come from?" My son said, well the team really needed me today so I knew I just had play better than I could. He got the game ball. (Eight years later, it's still in my cedar chest.)
Great moment in sports history. Probably not what you were asking for, but for me - and one little boy - it was more than great. It was truly amazing.
(Oh yeah, and they won the game that day.)
For those interested:
There were a couple of reasons why this happened the way it did - besides his absolute determination and mindset. At short-stop he had no time to "think" about catching the ball like right field; he just reacted. Catch the ball, throw the ball (and it wasn't so far. . . he made not have had not great strength for distance, but did have excellent accuracy.) The other thing - we'd found out earlier in the year his eyes had difficulty transition from far to near, basically that exact spot where you decide when/how to swing. He'd been undergoing vision therapy which helped him develop that transition so he could actually "see" when to swing.
He hit the ball a number of times the last few games, got to base, even scored a few times. Unfortunately the coach put him back in right field because the regular shortstop's parent wouldn't hear of anything else. (Small town politics.). But still, a great moment in his life. And mine.
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