Last night, after the baseball game, Indigo asked me as we crossed the street, “Moe, will you teach me to pitch? I want to learn to hit. Do we have a bat?”

For some, that would be cute – a youngster watching a AAA baseball game and being bitten by the bug of playing ball. For me, it was music to my ears. I had wished and hoped that one of my girls would want to play ball. I started playing when I was seven and continued to play competitively through college. I stopped when I was 22. Even during the summer, I played in slow pitch leagues. It was in my blood.

I stopped trying to play as an adult when I realized that there are too many who don’t know the game, but it doesn’t stop them from taking this way too seriously as they try to capture their youth – trying to do something they could not do in their youth. I learned quickly that I had to stop. I love the game. I know the game. I was a catcher for 11 years of that 15 years of play, so I know the game in ways most players don’t.  I cannot be on a field with a bunch of adults who believe they know the game but demonstrate they don’t.  I enjoy it too much to let those people suck the joy from it.  I gave up trying to find that team that understood that balance in 1999 when I got pregnant with DJ.

I have never been able to get rid of my gloves.  The blue one on the right was my very first mitt.  The two on the left are my first baseman mitts that I had to use to catch in high school before they really allowed true catcher’s mitts.  I do have one other mitt – an adult sized fielder’s mitt that I use today. 

After much prompting from Indigo this morning, I pulled out my bag.  “Why do you have a softball in every mitt, Moe?” was her question as I pulled them out.  “Because, Indigo, you should always store a glove with a ball in it so that you don’t wreck the pocket.”  We tossed the ball around a bit.  She was doing pretty well for it being the first time.  DJ seems interested too.  We’ll see what she decides in terms of wanting to learn. 

I’m just happy that one of them has shown interest.  I love showing girls how to play.  As my mom said to me, Indigo loves dirt. She would make a great catcher.  I’ll take simply having someone who loves to play catch.