Lessons from the baseball field

Near my house are several baseball fields, and around them is a dirt path that I use to run or walk and watch people. Since it winter and the temperatures are cooler, teams of children have been learning how to play baseball.

I remember when I learned this sport: I had participated in a little league one summer and I also played in the backyard with my brothers and dad. However, I thought that everyone else were better baseball players than I was, and I felt inferior when I struck out or missed a catch. As a result, after a few years playing with my brothers and after just one summer in the city league, I quit.

However, I enjoy watching live baseball, especially here in Hermosillo as it is a very popular sport. I have gone to several games here, and each time I attend, I want to understand it more. As a result, I took note of the children on the fields during their practice. Upon observing them, I was intrigued: their way of learning how to play baseball was much different than how I learned.

What caught me by surprise was that they weren’t playing a game; instead they were practicing the skills, in isolation. In one of the fields, a group of kids were leaning how to bat. An adult would pitch the ball several times so that the little one had several opportunities to bat, regardless of whether or not he/she successfully hit the ball. In other fields, the children were practicing catching. However, this skill can be subdivided, which they did. One group only caught ground balls, and a different group received just pop-flies. In yet another field, the little leaguers practiced running the bases. In each of the groups, the children repeated the same skill almost the entire practice giving them the chance to master it.

Observing them gave me cause to reflect. I had not learned in the same manner as they were when I was a child. Yes, we were taught the various skills, but were given little time to learn them and soon we had to use them in a game. As mentioned earlier, I thought I wasn’t very good at baseball, when in reality, perhaps I only lacked practice.

The lessons given on the baseball diamonds hold application off the field as well. Similar to these children, we as adults continue trying t learn new things or beginning new stages of life; it could be a job change, a move to another city, the beginning of a relationship, a marriage, the start of having a family, etc. With each of these, there are skills or aspects that we need to learn first before we feel comfortable and /or are successful. Sometimes we become discouraged in the transition because we have forgotten that we must learn the parts before the whole. At least, this is true for me. So the next time I try something new or am discouraged in the process, I will remember these lessons from the baseball field.

The Grito de la Independencia (The Independence Shout)

*Although Mexican Independence Day was a few weeks ago, I didn't really explain it. So here it is!

The date is September 1810. It’s 5:00 in the morning and you are tired. However, the toll of the bell announces that right now a town meeting for the city of Dolores is being held in the cathedral. You arrive late, and although you don’t know what the meeting is about, you realize that it is something important seeing the excited agitated faces of your neighbors and hearing the strong charismatic voice of the Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. You listen: he is talking about the injustice of the foreign occupation of New Spain (Mexico). Soon, you share the rage of the other parishioners and their desire to change the situation. When the Father shouts “Viva the Virgin of Guadalupe” (Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!), you applaud in agreement. Upon hearing “Viva the homeland!” you recognize for the first time that the land where you live and the laws that govern it belong to you and your neighbors, your fellow countrymen, and not to a foreign country. When the Father Hidalgo invites the townsmen to reconvene at eleven o clock this night armed and ready to fight, you accept with “Viva the Virgin of Guadalupe! Viva the homeland!” Yes, you will join him, and although you are a mere farmhand, you will arrive with your machete and your courage to combat this injustice in order to gain your country’s independence.

The date is September 15, 2007, Mexico’s National Independence Day. You are in the plaza in front of the main cathedral. Although it is dark, the world is alive in anticipation, like a child waiting to open their first present Christmas Eve. Banners of red, white, and green (the flag’s colors) hang from the plaza bandstand floating in the breeze and the cathedral is bathed in yellow light in the background. The notes of trumpets joyfully reach your ear. You are surrounded by hundreds of people, snow cones, heat, and sweat. The air is filled with anticipation. Finally, the moment arrives. It is eleven ‘o clock and the president begins the speech. He proclaims, “Viva Father Hidalgo! Viva the heroes of our independence! Viva the Virgin of Guadalupe!” and you respond, “Viva! Viva! Viva!” He shouts “Viva Mexico!” and everyone shouts back in agreement and in unison, “Viva Mexico!” With this final shout, the plaza bursts forth in celebration: released white doves fly upward into the sky, confetti of the flags colors rain down on the crowd, and fireworks light up the night resounding against the cathedral’s walls. And in all of this, you witness the citizens’ hearts and minds gratefully honoring their heroes, who almost 200 years earlier, fought for their independence.