I'm new to the area in which I am serving now. So, I saw folks playing a summer game at the local high school field and decided to stop by. Turns out it was middle schoolers, maybe guys moving from 8th - 9th grade. Hard to tell at that age. Anyway, first batter comes up. Dad gets up from chair along the baseline to give instructions to the kid. Then he moves over to the other baseline to video the at bat. Kid strikes out on a pretty good curve ball. Guy shakes his head, mutters and walks off. I was this close to saying, "Hey, man. It happens. He looks like a pretty good hitter. He'll learn how to fight-off curveballs over time." But, I'm new, so I held my tongue.
We put a lot of hope, much of it undue, upon our boy's abilities on the diamond. I think this is a newer phenomenon too. Many of us can remember playing ball at a time when our parents may not have even come to our games.
It is easy to lose sight of reality when judging our kid's potential. Some people though are delusional.