As you know the kid was benched because he is not "mentally tough" (MT). Uh huh. That's right. He has the LOWEST ERA on the team and he is not MT. Hmmm. I get that. A MT person is one who stays on the mound while opposing players pound the ball into the outfield and score lots of runs. Oh, right, a mentally tough person does not strike out three players on a nationally ranked baseball team, because, let's face it, they are not MT.
And so, the kid is on the bench...breathing...the coach likes it but not enough to put him into any of the four games this weekend against another sub par D1 team. In fact, he continued to sit on the bench and breathe (he has the highest oxygen level on the team) while pitchers with 17.0 and 20.0 ERAs started. That's right. In baseball, it is all about performance and stats. Unless you are my kid...here is my take on it....
He spent time in Texas with the Pitching Doctor this summer. His fast ball rose to 91 mph. Further, he worked his mechanics out with Coach P. Lastly, his friend, the pitching All-Star with a World Series ring gave him advice on being in the moment while pitching. All of this is good, right?
NO, wrong! It 'ruined' him according to the coach. Huh? Working out and being given advice by a guy who had done it (captured a World Series title) ruined him? Yike! I want my money back!
As we sit back and do some Monday morning quarterbacking, dad thinks this benching is because the big leftie continued to challenge the coaches' methods by talking about the Pitching Doctor's arm regimen. These coaches don't like it. Presumably, they hate it because they do not endorse it since they did not invent it. I believe that they are offended by all of this talk and since they have fragile egos, they are not going to put someone in to a game because (once again), they cannot handle it. They are out of their league (so to speak).
Rather than working with the kid, they have ignored him in the hopes that he would disappear.
Now, we get to the Monday Meltdown.....actually, it began on Sunday night. With the texts that started with "I am outta here" to "I am quitting..." I began to stop reading them and responding. Obviously, he is salty and did not need his ma to tell him to chill. Actually, his ma told him to speak to the coaches before the weekend series, which he did not do, so he sulked in the dugout for the entire weekend as he watched lesser pitchers enter the games and give up runs to a clearly inferior team. Naturally, Tink and I watched from the stands with our hand warmers and blankets on....it was frigid!
On Monday, I asked him to call and we got into a heated argument. Yep, I let it roll, 'cause he would have ignored my wisdom.....
It started with "I hate them. I will bring them down....they are scum....yadda yadda yadda......" I stopped listening at that point....
Then I unleashed her....figuratively, naturally....I rarely do this...but, when necessary, I take the key from the cabinet and unharness the beast that I try to suppress....
"Huh? What? When did you turn into a quitter? I don't care of you are sick of it. This is the life that you have chosen, good or bad, and you are going to figure this out. You must go to the coach and find out what is going on. Further, you sit back as if they can read your mind. Well, Buster, no one can read anyone's mind. Yes, I know that you are special and have gifts, but honestly, maybe you are not MT. They are right! Do you want them to be right? What are you going to do about it? Stop whining. Get moving."
"The measure of a man is not what he does when things are going well, but what he does when they are not going well. So, how will you handle it? Go fight for yourself. This is not kindergarten. You are not going to get a trophy for participating. Move your butt, get into their faces. Show them what you got."
"Forget about revenge. The best revenge is to live well. You are catastrophizing everything, Get a grip. next week, they team starts conference play. You will be in there because you have the experience of shutting good teams down. Until then, play their little MT game with them. Then as dad says, pitch well, drop the ball in front of them, then walk away."
Click.
Well now...I hit a nerve or five. He also texted me that he wanted to leave campus so I invited him home. He never came home, but spoke to his dad after he calmed down and created a plan for today. And, here is where we are.....he is going to play mind games with his completely mental coaches. He will report back later today.
By the way, I finally had happy hour with Big Girl who gave me great advice. But first, I had to know if these coaches were the norm or abnormal. She felt after she conferred with her three football playing sons that they were over the top. Great. Good to know. Then she told me a few things that were said to her son who plays football at Buddy's school. He had broken his leg and played on the break for 5 weeks. When he finally got it casted, the coach called him a "girl". Really, I am offended by that one!
What will happen today is a mystery. But I am keeping my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for something positive...anything...please...something....
Have a good day!
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