Some Dance, Others Hit

The batting cages at Stella’s are connected to an indoor/outdoor facility that used to be for hitting and fielding but now seems to have gone over to the dark side: We saw girls lined up outside in three chorus lines.

“I really don’t mind dancers,” Clare told me as we got into the car after hitting.  “It’s just that what they do is so useless.”  OK, Clare, now tell us how you really feel.  I can only imagine what she would’ve said if things had gone badly in the cages.  That we were even there was amazing.  Credit the All-Star Game for putting my daughter in the mood.

Clare had been talking about going hitting for some time now, but couldn’t.  She was mad about graduating, mad that it’s so hard to find an over-21 team to play on, afraid that a college degree kills your ability to hit.  Well, it doesn’t.  The last time Clare hit was Senior Day, April 27.  Of the 120 pitches she saw yesterday, nearly three months later, there were 0 swinging strikes.  Ted Williams would’ve been proud.  I bought Clare a copy of Williams’ The Science of Hitting for her 21^st birthday, and she reads it from time to time.

Now, all we have to do is find a way outside the cages for the girl to keep honing her skill.