If I EVER act like that... redux

For those of you (again...BOTH of you) who follow this blog closely, you may remember my posting from a couple of days ago about my experience at a coach-pitch All Star baseball game.

The coach actually responded with an e-mail that's worth posting (published with his permission):

Tim,

Sorry it has taken me a day to get back to you. Thank you for the kind words about the other night. This is my first time to be a head coach on an all-star team. I have been an assistant many times before including a Pinto team that went to state last year, so I have had many opportunities to witness behavior on and off the field that is unacceptable and embarrassing. I do agree with you that some of our parents got out of control during the game and I wish that had not happened. My nature is to keep things calm at all times regardless of the situation, as getting angry at anything associated with kid baseball will not set a good example for the boys and will only make them feel stressed and uncomfortable.

As far as the umpires go, I was not upset at all about the calls. I was glad that the one call was corrected when our player was tagged out at home. The umpires are doing the best they can with a very difficult job and I appreciate their work as I do not want to ever be in their shoes. Without them we would not be able to play the game.

There have been times this season when I wondered what I got myself into, but your email has made me feel like maybe I did make a bit of difference in these kids lives and hopefully they will play the game many years into the future. Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down in an email, I will be sure to keep it in my files for the rest of my coaching days.

Best of luck to you and your family on the move to Ohio and I hope you find a good fall league for your son. There is nothing better than the combination of father, son & baseball.

Sincerely,
[His Name]

Classy guy!