Game Ball

Daniel's league has a preseason tournament every year to raise money for the park & the tournament started Thursday & ended today. The Braves lost 2 very close games & came in 2nd place! Way to go, Braves!! Daniel got off to a very rough start......struck out all 4 times at bat in the first game of the season. Even though they had only practiced twice before this game, he expected to do much better & was totally & completely heartbroken. He cried for 2 hours after the game & was so "embarrassed". Bless him! It was quite heartbreaking for mama & daddy too. This is the first time something like this has happened where he was heartbroken & we couldn't 'fix' it. He played terrible and nothing we said or did could change it. And believe me, we tried all of the "It's ok, you did your best" talks and Dan told him story after story of time that he had played not so well......didn't matter one bit to Daniel. The big difference now verses last year is that he was aware of how he played and is old enough to feel embarrassed. He has had bad games before, but just didn't know any better or care. This year, instead of goofing off in the dugout, the boys are serious & actually watch the game. It's not just about fun anymore....they want to play well & win. I know this was a good experience for him......learning how to fail, but it definitely was not fun! As my sweet friend Ann always says, 'It is great character building'. I sure hope he built enough character to last awhile! On a better note, he played MUCH better in the next 3 games and even earned the game ball one game!! Yay! I also have to say how thankful we are for his coach, who gave him LOTS of encouragement through all of this, called to check on Daniel after the bad game (he knew how upset he was) & even met Daniel & Dan after school Friday for an extra batting practice with Daniel. Thanks Jason.....MUCH appreciated!!!