Eric (the younger) Kurtz wrote this marvelous story about his kids' reaction to the Colorado Rockies' magical run to the World Series, in response to Karl's blog posting in
The Thicket about his enthusiasm for the Rockies and his hope (at the time) that the Indians (not the Red Sox!) might make it into the series against the Rockies:
[From Eric on Oct. 17]: Nice
blog today. We have been debating who you would root for if the Indians faced the Rockies. Micaela and I guessed wrong. Jeanette and Talia said you would convert to the hometown heroes. Jasper just sang "Are you ready for some baseball?" over and over to the tune of the Monday Night Football song. Are you planning to get World Series tickets? Jeanette is disappointed that she will be out of town for all of the home games. She's going with her Dad next week to scatter her Mom's ashes on the Oregon coast.
Micaela has spent the last few nights in the back yard practicing her move to first. Before she throws she goes through gyrations that appear to be a cross between a pitchers routine and a third base coach giving the sign to bunt. Talia won't catch for her, in part because Micaela wants her to, and in part because Talia broke her arm on Sunday.
Talia went to a back handspring clinic at the gymnastics studio. She was doing very well and wanted to show off her progress to Mom. She insisted on trying to do a handspring without a spotter. We thought that she just sprained her wrist, but then the pain woke her up in the middle of the night. I got suspicious when the X-ray tech wanted to re-take one of the pictures. The doctor had a pony tail, ala Antonio Banderas, and spoke with a Barcelona lisp that Talia had trouble understanding. He sthaid that the bonesth of kidsth are sthupple like green thwigs. I liked that image of Talia's insides. But, there are small fractures on one of Talia's bones just above the wrist, and she will need a cast for 4-6 weeks. Right now she is wearing a splint. On Monday, after the swelling goes down, an orthopedist will evaluate her and probably put on a plaster cast. She can't wait to have a cast that people can sign. Now, if only her loose front tooth would fall out. Then Talia would really be in heaven.
Micaela complained that at school the kids make her play third base and, in her opinion, that means a lot of standing around. She wants to pitch. I said that in my experience everything in baseball involves standing around. At least they assigned her to the infield. I immediately felt bad for discouraging her interest. I tried to make up for it by talking about how much effort the pros put into being ready on every play for that one pitch in fifty that might come to you, when the whole team is counting on you to make the catch and throw. I told her that her Mom played softball into high-school (I think that's an exaggeration, but I'm not sure), and that her Grandad was a fanatic observer. However, it didn't seem to work . . . to assuage my guilt, I mean. I think tonight I'm going to be catching for her.
Jasper likes to catch for her, but he can't make the throw back to the mound. He's as likely to hit the umpire in the head with his throws as he is to get it two feet in Micaela's general direction. Reggie wants to catch for Micaela, but his hips won't let him do it anymore. I have to lock him in the house so that he doesn't hurt himself trying. It breaks my heart.
When I think about it, Micaela's probably got the right personality for third base. I can see her being a student of the game who worries about whether she should take one minute step to the left or one shuffle to the right based on the batter's tendencies, the number of outs, the presence of base runners, the strengths of the pitcher, etc. Talia seems better suited to center field, where she could run a lot and throw hard. Jasper is the only one I could see as a pitcher, with his short memory and devil-may-care attitude. He just needs to work on his placement. Is it bad that I'm pigeon holing my kids like this?
On June 30, 2007, Emily presented a musical showcase of her voice and piano works during the last year. It was a remarkable recital, attended by proud friends, family and teachers. Here is the program:
