Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical. - Yogi Berra
I think Mr. Berra was right--baseball takes 140% effort, particularly when you are teaching the sport to 25 complete novices ranging in age from 8 to 18. Last Saturday, the American Sports Club put on a 4-hour baseball extravaganza, starting with the basics and working our way up to a full-fledged game and man, it was really, really fun.
Pulling off this event could only be done with the help of many parties that I want to give a shout-out to. First, the American kids who donated equipment and the organization Pitch In For Baseball for collecting it and sending it to us (and my wonderful parents for covering the shipping). Second, the American Corner Bitola staff for finding a playing field, buying snacks and T-shirts, and the Corner's interns for covering everything from translating instructions to playing catcher. Third, to the American Sports Club founders who applied for the equipment and helped teach the younger kids on Saturday. And last but far from least, my fantastic regional sitemates from Peace Corps who got up early on their Saturday, who didn't complain when we ran out of snacks, and who know WAY more about baseball than me so the kids actually learned how to play properly.
All week I had been dreading that the forecasts for rain would be true and cause the game to be canceled but miraculously, we got an ideal sunny spring day. We played on a field outside the soccer stadium and I guess the magnetism of baseball is undeniable--several kids defected from soccer practice and joined us instead. I must say, the youth impressed me with their ability to pick up the game even if it took us awhile to get everyone to understand that if you don't run over the base, it doesn't count. I think when we have real bases instead of egg cartons this will be clearer because, after all, why would you stomp egg cartons? Also memorable was when one kid hit a homer and proceeded to run the bases carrying his batting helmet tucked under his arm.
One of my favorite parts was Kaylee and Lauren's solution for putting the kids in a memorable batting order--they just lined them up in height order, shortest to tallest. I'm sure the major leagues will be switching to this approach soon, it's so logical. And the night before the game, we had a baseball talk at the American Corner where I gave them cracker jacks made by yours truly and we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a requirement for earning a taste of said cracker jacks.
There are photos and even some video of all the baseball revelry up on Picasa. Some of the pictures are taken by me, but most are from Helene, my sitemate, and Stefan, an American Sports Club founder who is an amazing photographer. To close, I'd like to use another Yogi-ism:
I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary.
I think Mr. Berra was right--baseball takes 140% effort, particularly when you are teaching the sport to 25 complete novices ranging in age from 8 to 18. Last Saturday, the American Sports Club put on a 4-hour baseball extravaganza, starting with the basics and working our way up to a full-fledged game and man, it was really, really fun.
Pulling off this event could only be done with the help of many parties that I want to give a shout-out to. First, the American kids who donated equipment and the organization Pitch In For Baseball for collecting it and sending it to us (and my wonderful parents for covering the shipping). Second, the American Corner Bitola staff for finding a playing field, buying snacks and T-shirts, and the Corner's interns for covering everything from translating instructions to playing catcher. Third, to the American Sports Club founders who applied for the equipment and helped teach the younger kids on Saturday. And last but far from least, my fantastic regional sitemates from Peace Corps who got up early on their Saturday, who didn't complain when we ran out of snacks, and who know WAY more about baseball than me so the kids actually learned how to play properly.
All week I had been dreading that the forecasts for rain would be true and cause the game to be canceled but miraculously, we got an ideal sunny spring day. We played on a field outside the soccer stadium and I guess the magnetism of baseball is undeniable--several kids defected from soccer practice and joined us instead. I must say, the youth impressed me with their ability to pick up the game even if it took us awhile to get everyone to understand that if you don't run over the base, it doesn't count. I think when we have real bases instead of egg cartons this will be clearer because, after all, why would you stomp egg cartons? Also memorable was when one kid hit a homer and proceeded to run the bases carrying his batting helmet tucked under his arm.
One of my favorite parts was Kaylee and Lauren's solution for putting the kids in a memorable batting order--they just lined them up in height order, shortest to tallest. I'm sure the major leagues will be switching to this approach soon, it's so logical. And the night before the game, we had a baseball talk at the American Corner where I gave them cracker jacks made by yours truly and we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a requirement for earning a taste of said cracker jacks.
There are photos and even some video of all the baseball revelry up on Picasa. Some of the pictures are taken by me, but most are from Helene, my sitemate, and Stefan, an American Sports Club founder who is an amazing photographer. To close, I'd like to use another Yogi-ism:
I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary.
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