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Monday, June 11, 2007

The Giants

Well sports fan. Are you ready for an exciting recount of my 10 year old's little league tournament week? I know you are. Let's start with a little background information. Riley's team was third to last in their league. The only two teams that were doing worse were the Dodgers and the Royals. And actually, they were tied with the Dodgers most of the season. I think the Giants were one win ahead of the Dodgers by the end. The Giants record was 11 losses, 2 wins and 1 tie. Not a great season.

Then came last week. Their last game was on Monday. They played a great game. Unfortunately for them, the other team had the BIGGEST whiner for a coach who got all pissy and stupid about every little thing. Plus, the ump, who volunteers, was not that great. They lost by 1 point. 1 point. That's it. They probably wouldn't have, had the calls been better, but whatever. The Giants, unlike the Diamondbacks, are very good sports.

Tuesday was the first day of the tournament games. It was double elimination. I was some what skeptical they would have more than two games. I know it's not nice, but in all reality, I didn't believe they would last more than the two games it would take to get eliminated. I'm sorry! I'm a horrible mom for thinking such thoughts. But...

Tuesday they played the Astros. And won! It was so exciting. The score was 18-9. At one point it was 18-3. We were all holding our breath because our little Giants have been know to lose when they were ahead by a lot of points. They didn't though. It was a great game.

Wednesday they play the Reds. They won 7-1. I didn't get to see that game because Darby had softball. I guess the Reds decided to call it quits by the end.

Thursday was the tough one. They were up against the Cubs who had a really good season. The Cubs were in third place. The poor Giants lost by 10 points and had to play another game right afterwards. It turned out they were up against the Reds again. I was really nervous. I was late for the first game and I guess the coach was really hard on the kids and the parents were upset and the kids weren't in the best spirits. It showed at the beginning of the next game. I left early because it was getting late and I hadn't been home all week long. When I left the score was 5-3. We weren't winning.

I guess I missed a really dramatic game. I'm a little bit sorry and little bit glad I did. I can't take the stress very well when it comes to Riley's games. From what I hear the Giants were losing something like 10-3 and it was pretty close to the final inning. We had the best pitcher on our team pitching and the ump was calling them all balls. Riley told me he threw a perfect pitch, Riley didn't even have to move his glove. It went straight into his mitt and the the ump, who is a paid ump, called it a ball. So the pitcher just starts lobbing the ball over the plate because he was tired and fed up with the calls. Then the ump started calling those strikes and yelled out to the pitcher, "finally your throwing some strikes!" Which made the pitcher start to cry. Which didn't sit well with the mom or the coach.

The coach ran onto the field screaming and yelling and swearing. He was thrown out of the game. The Giants ended up winning by 5 points. They were moving on to Friday night's game. I couldn't believe it. My theory was that they were sick and tired of being picked on. They lost their coach, the ump made the pitcher cry, they had enough.

Friday they played the Cubs again because the Cubs were undefeated in the tournament rounds. If the Giants won this game they would play the Cubs again and whomever won that game would play the game for the championship and the trophy. There are two leagues in the minors division, the American League and the National League. The Giants made it to the second spot on the National League. They lost to the Cubs that Friday, but I am so proud of them. They went farther than the top teams in the minor division. I couldn't believe it. I still don't know how they managed it. They just had a lot of heart left in them.

I'm especially proud of my little Riley. This was his first year playing when most kids have been playing since T-ball. He did awesome. He played catcher, which is one of the most stressful positions on a little league team. And he played it wonderfully. He was almost always put in as first batter because he rarely missed a hit. He did so great. I hope he continues to love it.

6 Comments:

  • So great!! When I was younger I remember going to some games. My sister was all into it but now she likes ice dancing.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:37 PM, June 11, 2007  

  • Whew, what a rollercoaster! Glad they pulled together and went out on a high note to be proud of.

    By Blogger Jay, at 5:12 PM, June 11, 2007  

  • That is awesome and at this age FUN is the name of the game!! FUN I said:-} and it sounds like he had a wonderful season

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:23 PM, June 11, 2007  

  • These are the memories you'll recall when times aren't going as well as you wish...in the future. It will be..."remember that season when you did so well? I do and I'm glad we were right there with you! Bet you can do it again!"

    By Blogger Envoy-ette, at 9:53 PM, June 11, 2007  

  • Just goes to prove, it's not who wins, it's how you play the game!

    Congrats to Riley and his Mom. You both are to be commended for excellent performances! :o)

    By Blogger Karen, at 12:23 PM, June 12, 2007  

  • Congrats to Riley on the big wins! I know you most be so proud. Great job!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:49 AM, June 13, 2007  

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