Almost four years ago, we decided to put our son with Down syndrome in t-ball. We started out in the low-pressure fall season way back in 2015, and now Nathan is in his fourth year and eighth season. Back then, he was the smallest, but now is the biggest baller (though he doesn’t stand out as “big” in the group). He also now plays with the younger siblings of kids he played with in the past.
In the early seasons, I had one goal. I wanted at least one kid in every game to do something equally or more wacky than the things Nathan did.
Two years ago, he blew my mind by making his first out at first base, and just a week later I cried like a baby during his walk-off home run.
Eighteen months ago, I wondered if we were at the end of the road for t-ball, yet here we still are. We simply couldn’t walk away from it knowing how much he loves it.
But a funny thing happened… he got pretty good at it.
He’s not a powerful hitter, but he is consistent, not just in how hard he hits the ball but where – he places it solidly between the pitcher and third baseman almost every time.
As for running, he still isn’t fast, but it’s now a function only of his physical limitations, not his propensity to sit down on the base, lollygag, or amble between bases. When balls are hit, he runs in the right direction as fast as his short, stocky body can carry him.
He has a good arm, and if he knows where he’s supposed to throw it (not a given for any player in t-ball), his aim is pretty good. He’s played pitcher a number of times this season, and while he’s no superstar, he also isn’t terrible.
For my part, I no longer sit in the stands feeling like an impostor baseball mom because my kid is different. These days, I’m a “real” baseball mom who keeps the book and explains the quirky t-ball rules to the first-time parents. I have grown to love t-ball, and I wonder if maybe this level is the best of baseball. It’s entertaining and fun and there’s no pressure because the kids don’t even know if they win or lose.
For eight seasons, wonderful t-ball coaches have embraced a little boy with Down syndrome.
The league commissioner is a friend and Nathan’s former coach, so we know he can stay in t-ball for as long as we want. But it feels like like it’s time to move on, and instead of walking away, I think he’ll move up.
Wonders never cease.
Hooray! I’ve been hoping you’d decide that! My boy is playing high school ball now, and I still miss t-ball, but Nathan seems to have done so well and grown so much through it. I can’t wait to hear how fall ball goes.
He really does love it! He also loves swim team, which will be starting up in just a few weeks. Once he is a little older, we may consider doing year-round swim (with the same coach Sarah Kate works with), but until she graduates high school and moves on it would just be too much for them to both do it. She would be swimming from 3:45-5:45 each afternoon and he would swim 5:45-7:15. I’m not willing to sacrifice family dinners for swim!