April Showers…

Today marked the Opening Day for Coeur d’Alene Little League, and although the entire week up until last night was incredibly dry and warm (highs in the mid-60s), it started pouring rain this morning. After the Opening Ceremonies – where we introduced teams and sponsors, the board of directors and managers – it really started coming down. I even ran home to trade my shorts and polo for jeans and a coat between events.

Needless to say, our game against the Mariners was cancelled.

What’s more, I found out last night that one of players decided to quit baseball to pursue his passion for dirtbiking; he failed to let me know, as I heard this from his teammates when he failed to show up for his second practice in a row.

What now? We get to bump a kid from AAA up to the Majors, and I’ve already requested one of the top players in the AAA-level. How does this benefit me? Well, during the draft, we were required to pick up ALL the 12-year-olds before we could move down to drafting 11- and 10-year-olds. Now, if you’re 12 years old and just getting drafted into the majors, one of three things has occurred: (1) You were previously on a majors team that you didn’t like, so you asked to be re-drafted; (2) You moved into the area and are new to the league; or, the most common excuse, (3) You played AAA the past few seasons because you weren’t talented enough to make the majors.

Well, this kid who quit was the very last 12-year-old I drafted, and thus the equivalent of our worst player (on paper). He actually proved to be more talented than his attitude let on, but his head was never in the game.

Turns out this whole scenario works best for all (except that AAA team who loses their best player!).

Our next scheduled game is Monday against the Mets. I haven’t seen them practice yet, and while I have seen the other teams practice somewhat, I firmly believe we will have a strong outing.

Go Yankees!