Last night during the Majors Twins v Orioles playoff game one of the Twins players hit a solo home run. Anytime a player hits one out of the park is special, however this home run meant even more than usual. Here’s the story as told by the player’s Dad (comments originally posted to Facebook and reproduced here with his permission).
“I was in tears today.. .tears of joy…
My little girl hit a home run tonight.; Over the fence..
The backstory is important….
My daughter decided this year she would sign up for baseball. No, not a girls team.. “NO WAY” she said. She was going to play with the boys. We tried and failed to talk her out of it.
She started the season, not knowing which way to run….”first is this way” the coach told her…. after her first walk. (I shook my head… and whispered to myself “this is going to be a looooong season”. She was the worst player on the team… no question. The other boys had played five seasons at least…..
Well today, 14 games into the season, she smoked the ball…
A single home run… it cleared the fence by 15 feet.
The team went crazy! This Dad, nearly had a cardiac. His little girl has found her “thing”.
Baseball it is.
To be fair, she was been steadily improving… she hit two doubles last week, in another game she caught the ball and threw a double play… and a few weeks ago there was that massive pop fly to right field she caught.
Every morning she gets up and practices… throwing against the fence, trying to hit the catcher she drew in chalk. She loves the game…. She has worked hard. But, it is her team-mates that have made the biggest contribution… they made her feel welcome. they made her feel like “one of the boys” …”of course, she is capable of hitting a home run”. ….Because her coaches were patient and willing to teach this new girl, she flourished…she has found a love for this beautiful game. The results are simply astonishing.
This is minor sport at its very very best…. and if you don’t believe me, check out the picture….you can see it in the faces of everyone of those kids….
Thank you Mt. Seymour Little League….”
