Uniforms

We enjoyed an unusual baseball practice on Monday. First of all, Gabe and I always arrive early in order to get more playing time in. We got there about 15 minutes before 4 PM and I started hitting him grounders. Around 3:50, Abraham shows up, my favorite player on the team…and others trickle in.

It’s funny to me, but before we showed up, everyone would come and just sit on the bench and wait for the coach. Part of that was the fact that the kids don’t have balls with them. I suppose when they get one, they lose it pretty fast…Anyway…we’re always fully supplied, so when about five guys show up, we do hitting practice until coach shows up…about 4:05 PM.

At that point, all the parents, mostly men are just staring at us, at me. They’re kind of used to it, but I think it’s so unusual for a woman to play baseball, they can hardly wrap their heads around the idea…Once both coaches show, I quit whatever I’m doing and tell the boys to go to their coaches. Coach has made them run laps every practice…3 last week, but now they’re up to 5. This time around, I ran with them…seemed like a good opportunity to get a work out. Wow…did I feel the oxygen debt. I forget that we’re at 5000 feet. After the laps, coach has them stretching and repeating these curious sprints…each seeming to have a baseball bent to them. I had never seen them before. The boys don’t complain. They all cooperate, even the “gordos”…the fatter boys (In Mexico it’s not impolite to call someone fatty. It’s actually an endearment).

From there they move on to playing catch with each other and the rest of practice is pretty similar a typical American little league practice, with infield drills, outfield drills and hitting practice. I go to my book at this point…sitting on the sports bag in order to avoid getting bitten by ants. Eventually, the rain starts, so I head for the dugout. The boys are still playing. Now the “reunion” or “meeting” to decide on the uniforms begins. I knew it was supposed to happen sometime, but have kept waiting to see how this plays out. Because my Spanish isn’t superb, I know I’m missing various aspects of the verbal communication and the subtext. All the parents start chiming in, but one guy…cool, slick machismo dad…seems to have control of the group. I’m reading folks and trying to figure out if everyone is happy about that. It seems they are. They do talk about colors. My only addition (which they rejected) was to have dark colors so the dirt doesn’t show on their uniforms. They say…dark colors are too hot. Okay, I say. I like white. Let’s go with white…and a bunch of the mother’s laugh, teasing the men about whether or not they’re going to wash their son’s uniforms. Then, a couple of moms take me aside and tell me how to get the dirt out of a white uniform. It has everything to do with the ridged, cement sink on our porch…you hand wash clothes on this thing…we have a washer here, but I’ve washed my clothes this way before in Mexico….it’s a tremendous amount of work, but it does seem to get those stains out of your clothes…practically shreds them, but you can get the dirt out with enough scrubbing.

Now, they zero in on Gabe, who is wearing his Athletics jersey and hat. Though white pants are a must, they are very taken by the forest green and yellow. So I bring Gabe over. The parents ooh and aah. By this time it is pouring and all the team begins huddling under the cover of the dugout, including the two-year-old who keeps running out into the rain, to his mother’s chagrin (The Mexicans believe that if you get wet, you will certainly get sick…so this is a point of great concern to the mother…not to the two-year-old). With all this commotion going on, the meeting continues. I say…When do we need to order the uniforms? They say…we’re going right now, do you have a car? I say no…so I pile into someone’s car, with Gabe and we head downtown to a uniform making factory. The boys get measured, tell their numbers and names…which will be on the jerseys and that’s it

Kindly, one of the dads drives us home and I thank him profusely for his help. Anyway…it’s working out. Gabe will be on the Dragons (Dragones)in Oaxaca and will wear the colors of the Athleticos.