Did you ever have to miss a key game?

Great story!  Here's mine. My middle daughter was studying abroad in Barcelona and my husband and I went for a week to visit her.  Strategically planned the trip because my son would be playing in a spring break type tournament that didn't seem to have many good teams in it and it was about 5 hours away.  Long story short, he hit his first home run of HS over the centerfield fence about 385 feet! Luckily it was being filmed by the school, so we could see if from many angles.  But man, you wait for something like that to happen......oh well!  I haven't missed one since!

Everyone with two kids playing on different teams has missed key games. Everyone with kids who went to college a distance from home missed key games. I didn’t see either kid’s first college homer. They happened in midweek games. 

Not to diminish or detract from the intent of the post but my perspective on "key games" changed when my son was injured and unable to play; with the possibility of never playing again. I realized at that moment that they are all key games, regardless of the opponent, outcome, or individual performance. My message would be to enjoy every moment you're able to watch but don't beat yourself up when life gets in the way.

Sure plenty of times.   I had three kids playing college and high school baseball at the same time.  You've got to have a lot of friends to stay connected...it is part of the badge of being a baseball parent.  There is a protocol that has to be followed....big moments must be communicated immediately.  

In 2011, one of our posters (Birdman14) was driving down to Richmond, VA from NJ to see his son (Fordham) play Virginia Commonwealth for the opening season series.   I was local, so I was there for warmups and the start of the game.   Birdman14 got stuck in traffic on I-95 minutes from the field.   His son (two-way player) got his first college hit...he crushed an RBI double in the gap, two bounces to the fence...while his Dad was a mile away.   I was so bummed for him, but texted him immedidately.   He got a couple more hits the next day.  

This one stands out clearly:

William & Mary was second seed and needed to play first seed UNC-Wilmington twice to win the CAA conference tournament.  It is a Saturday and we have been at the out of town tournament for several days.  The weather looks bleak.  

In the first game, W&M is down 8-1 in the 9th.  It doesn't look good, and the seniors are starting to take it in that this is their last college game.   It is emotional and quiet in the dugout.  But....

They wind up sending 12 guys to the plate and 11 are productive to actually tie the game 8-8 in the ninth.

And then it starts to rain.  And rain.  And rain.  To the (eventual) tune of 5 inches.   We stick around and wait for several hours during the delay but it is one heck of a storm.  We continually watch the radar but we decided to cancel our hotel reservation and drive 6 hours home.   There was no way the field could be ready to play,  plus, they would have to win 2 to keep moving on.  No need to stick around another night for possibly one inning.  Or no game at all.

The W&M Assistant coach actually asks the tournament officials to give him a 30 minutes heads-up notice if the game is cancelled so he can tell his players before it hits social media.   UNC-W would then be the winners since they were first seed.   After a 27 hour rain delay, it is decided they can play.....but W&M will have to win not only game 1, but then game 2 two THAT DAY (a Sunday) before midnight because of the NCAA tournament selection on Memorial Day Monday.

So we cozied up and watched the end of the game at home on TV.   The game starts at the top of the 10th, and then keewartson hits a solo home run in the top of the 12th to win the game.  And we missed being there.   At least I could act like a lunatic wild woman in front of our TV, which I could never do in public.

The rest of the story:

*W&M would go on to win the second game and the conference title, and move on to play in the NCAA Regionals in Charlottesville.  They lost their first game to UVA 17-4, and then found themselves in the same familiar position that they had to win two games to move on.   They won the next game and then had to face UVA yet again.  W&M hadn't beat UVA in 11 straight outings, and their previous day's meeting was quite embarrassing. 

But they did.  

**W&M would loose later that day to East Carolina.  But, that win to put UVA, the previous year's College World Series Champions, out of the regional tournament was the best win in W&M history.  

http://collegebaseballinsider....ill-has-a-chance-62/

tequila posted:

Not to diminish or detract from the intent of the post but my perspective on "key games" changed when my son was injured and unable to play; with the possibility of never playing again. I realized at that moment that they are all key games, regardless of the opponent, outcome, or individual performance. My message would be to enjoy every moment you're able to watch but don't beat yourself up when life gets in the way.

There is an old saying on this board, "Play each game like it is your last, because one day it will be".

To switch it a bit:  "Go to each game and watch your child play like it is his last, because one day it will be".

tequila, I feel your pain. 

keewart - I remember it ALL very well.   The UNCW games were still pretty wet.  W&M was just flat out taking it to UVA in that 2nd game.  Your son was all over the place on the bases and in the field.   Very memorable.

keewart - I remember it very well also. Was a great run by W & M, but I didn't like greatgame's son getting knocked out of the regionals.

This one comes to mind with my oldest, but having 3 sons there has been more:

A few years back, oldest son was playing LL All-Stars against neighboring town (local rival). He was the youngest on pretty loaded team. Ended up having to pitch that game as the older pitchers had been used over the last couple games. Pitched a gem all 6 innings and getting the win (the coach later told me he had everyone off balance with fastball/change combo). 

The funny part was I ended up taking care of the kid of the rival coach in the ER. Kid swung a bat against a tree and ended up getting stitches to his forehead (tree won the fight ). Asked dad how the game went. Spoken in an arrogant tone, "We should have one that game, just couldn't hit that slow s!%#". It was all I could do to keep a straight face and wish him better luck next time. Needless to say, he had no idea he was speaking to the father of the kid with "slow s!$%".   

keewart posted:

tequila posted:

Not to diminish or detract from the intent of the post but my perspective on "key games" changed when my son was injured and unable to play; with the possibility of never playing again. I realized at that moment that they are all key games, regardless of the opponent, outcome, or individual performance. My message would be to enjoy every moment you're able to watch but don't beat yourself up when life gets in the way.

There is an old saying on this board, "Play each game like it is your last, because one day it will be".

To switch it a bit:  "Go to each game and watch your child play like it is his last, because one day it will be".

tequila, I feel your pain. 

Well, it didn't end up being the end of his baseball journey but the uncertainty was there and it dramatically changed my perspective on all of this. As it turned out, his shoulder has healed nicely and he played fall ball in his first college year. It's still a work in progress but he has high hopes for spring!

"Sure plenty of times.   I had three kids playing college and high school baseball at the same time.  You've got to have a lot of friends to stay connected...it is part of the badge of being a baseball parent.  There is a protocol that has to be followed....big moments must be communicated immediately. "

Fortunately I was able to attend the majority of son's games. One of my best memories from his college years was his roommate , seldom used back up catcher. We became great friends with his parents and are still to this day. Anyway kid gets a chance to pinch hit , two men on, two outs. his parents aren't at the game, I pull out my phone and get the video turned on just in time, he jumps on the first pitch and crushes it over CF wall for his first homerun. Kid is mauled at home plate and dugout by teammates. Being able to capture that moment and forward it to his parents was awesome.

My daughter went overseas a year ago for school and asked me to come travel around France with her for a week, so I missed several of my son's senior summer games.

While we were there,  he struck out 14 in a single game, a school record. The other team apparently wasn't happy about it and let him know it when he was at bat. He sent a photo expressing their feelings. Liz jumped out of bed, came running into me shouting "when does it stop being baseball and become assault!?"

Got the second shot at another game — wish I would have seen the actual pitch.

Since then, we have missed several games. His team travels a lot and we are in the midst of starting a business, so we watch lots of games on TV or listen to radio broadcasts.

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