Big fun with Asheville's Little League Diamondbacks
Their uniforms are baggy and sagging. Caps too big for their heads are cinched tightly in the back. Their cleats dangle just above the ground as they sit anxiously in the dugout, waiting a turn at bat. And to them, the distance between bases must seem a mile or more.
But what these baseball players lack in size they make up for in heart and enthusiasm.
It's an early spring Saturday morning at Bullman Field in Haw Creek. I've been following the Diamondbacks, a Little League baseball team of 6-8-year-olds, as they begin the season.
I'm interested in finding those moments where the game of baseball collides with the innocence of youth: A young catcher struggling to get his oversized gear on between innings, super-important discussions of strategy in the dugout between teammates, fielders daydreaming or drawing designs with their cleats in the dirt and dust of the diamond, between batters, hopefully.
The purity of the game is never more on display than in these moments.
Little League ball represents a time in life when dreams are most attainable, most real. The kids want to be Babe Ruth. They want to hit home runs and stomp on home plate with exuberance each time. They want to run the bases with chaotic excitement even though they're not sure exactly where to go.
The Diamondbacks are part of East Asheville Youth Sports and are coached by Kevin Robinson, whose son Noah plays on the team. Robinson also played at Bullman Field when he was a Little Leaguer. He tries to instill the basics of the game in the youngsters, while still allowing kids to be kids.
"When I'm teaching the boys the fundamentals, I try to focus more on what they're doing right, rather than what they're doing wrong," Robinson says. "I understand they are just little boys who want to have fun and sometimes just be silly."
My own Little League days down in South Georgia are reflected there at Bullman Field. I played for the Twins. We wanted to hit home runs and be Babe Ruth, too. (Actually, I wanted to be Rod Carew or Ryne Sandberg.)
Being out on the field with the Diamondbacks brought all that back for me. I wanted to drop my camera and pick up a glove and take some grounders. I wanted to be 10 again and run wild around the bases until I either crossed home plate or was tagged out.
I also wanted to put on the same uniform as my buddies, go out on the field and have fun, and sometimes, just be silly.