Bat girl rides again

With a hot pink "Hello Kitty" cap on her head and new Nikes on her feet, my daughter made tracks through the glistening dew on the lush green grass of Luther Williams Field. Across dirt once trod upon by Pete Rose and the Brave brothers Jones, Faith Fabian got her first lesson in baseball. "Mommy, my hat's broken, she said trying to hand over the hat with a new pink mitt on her hand. An adjustment later and she was up against the fence over which balls sail on those humid summer nights. They've likely taken out a few mosquitoes on the way. Her new baseball has fuchsia stitching. She likes that in a baseball. I watched as the coach trained them to yell "Yee ahh," while stretching out their arms in a giant "T" as they went to catch fly balls. Through the Gaudet All-Star Baseball Camp, she learned to squat behind home plate and rise to throw the balls back to the pitcher, just as Jim Gaudet did in stadiums across the nation. In the infield, she tried to scoop up grounders and direct them toward the baseman. And with a swing of her pony tail, her bat whipped around straight and level. "How did it go?" we asked her later. "I like to bat," she said. "That's what I want to do." When my husband explained how the game works, that each team takes a turn at bat, she said, "Oh, I don't want to do that." Maybe we should try golf.
Liz Fabian