Entry #32 - 7/14/04

After a few weeks off from writing, it is time for me to get back in the swing of things. I have many notes and thoughts I want to share. Summer is flying by and before you know it school will be back in session. I can’t wait. It is always exciting to see the return of your players after summer vacation. It is always very easy to recognize the players who had productive summers. We have a great group of new players coming in and it will be nice to get this team together for the first time, and even more exciting to see them on the field.

Summer has been hectic in our household. Tilo actually started school today. He attends Kindergarten at one of the two schools in Johnson City who have what they call “year around” school. I’m not sure how I will like it. I remember as a youngster the excitement and anticipation of summer vacation. This schedule seems to take that away. I don’t know his exact schedule, I leave that up to his mother, but I guess he will get a few extra weeks of vacation throughout the year. Jack our youngest son had his 2nd birthday last week. I have enjoyed my time with my boys this summer. It is fun to watch them communicate and interact with each other. They have different personalities but get along well. Tilo will definitely announce his presence with authority when a conflict arises between the two, but this has made Jack one tough hombre. I still have no idea how my wife handles them so well. When I have them both for a day, by the end I am completely wiped out.

Tilo finished his first Tee-Ball season and what an education that was. Obviously at this level we take baseball very serious. I tell our players that when you are involved in a baseball activity, at that time baseball is more important than life or death. But once that activity is over, then baseball becomes what it really is and that is trivial. There are many more things in people’s lives way more important than baseball. I was shocked and amazed at how serious Tee Ball was in Johnson City. No, it is not serious for the kids, only the parents. I do not have any desire to coach my son’s youth teams. I don’t think it would be healthy for our relationship. Just having Tilo in baseball camp this summer, I caught myself many times being unfair, and demanding more from him than I was the other campers. In other words I was on his rear end all the time. After two days of this I realized what I was doing and distanced myself from him.

During every Tee Ball game I always felt sorry for the coaches and the players. The youngster’s ages ranged from ages 5 to 8. How in the world can anyone expect a five year old to know how to play baseball, much less be able to execute the skills? I believe this is why many kids get burned out at an early age. We start them so young. They don’t have the skills yet, because they are just too young and undeveloped. Then they don’t have success and it is never fun to be unsuccessful, so then end up quitting…..and playing soccer. And we all know everyone can be good at soccer. Isn’t that why soccer was invented? If hitting a baseball was easy, then soccer would have never been started. I’m just kidding. I have the utmost respect for soccer. I am just having a little fun with some of my soccer friends who go to my church. But honestly, after witnessing a season of Tee Ball, I think the kids would be better if we as parents just dropped them off at the field, then left, and returned to pick them up when they were finished playing.

Just after our conference tournament I received some unfortunate news. One of my former players, Pete Ambrosina was tragically killed in a car accident the last weekend in May. Pete was originally from St. Maarten, but lived in Knoxville and was working for the state as a comptroller. In his free time he coached a 13 year old baseball team and still gave private instruction to many players in the Knoxville area. The first time I met Pete was my first year as an assistant coach. He introduced himself to me as “Sweet Pete”. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, and then I saw him take some ground balls and then I knew. He was a tremendous talent and had all the tools. He was a switch hitter, who had power from both sides of the plate, had great speed and had great defensive actions. He was an exciting player to watch. The thing that I will remember most about Pete and I’m sure it will be the same for the others who knew him was the kind of person he was. He was always full of life. He was always smiling. He was always laughing. He was always making other people laugh. From the first pitch of the game he never stopped talking. He was fun to coach and he was a great teammate. Saying good bye to him was very difficult. Pete will be sorely missed by the many people whose lives he touched. Until next time...

COACH SKOLE