...When All is Said and Dunn

I’m sorry if it seems like I am writing too much these days about Little League and baseball/softball but it has become so much a part of my life in recent months that it is what’s on my mind most of the time. As any parent who has more than one child involved can tell you, you end up spending more time at the park than you do at home. Don’t worry though, soon the season will be over and I can clear my mind and make way for other things.

But for now I will have to be content with any life lessons and foibles I see at the ballpark. Believe me when I say there are many to be taken in while in attendance at any game. Joy, patience, anger, stress, tolerance, bewilderment, mystery, and discovery can all be experienced during a 2-hour game. If not during a single game, for sure over the course of a season.

I have two kids playing and, depending on how involved you choose to get, that equates to two extended families. Just like most families, there are some relatives you would rather not see, but families being what families are, you are sometimes thrust together and are forced to get along for at least short periods of time.
If you are in one of the lower divisions, T-ball, Clinic, Coast/PCL or Minors, that family will change with the beginning of each season, but once you get to the Majors it’s a whole new ballgame. The Major family can be together for three years, which in some cases can be either challenging or it can be very pleasurable in that you can get to know people you would otherwise not spend much time with.

My daughter, Rachel, is now in her second year of Major Softball. Her team, the Navy Seals, is having a dream season this year. That is in no small part to her manager Mark Ferrari and his coaches Dan Armenta, Lance Baroldi, and Rob Wilkenson. Their hard work and good drafting in the past has lead them to the result they are seeing this season. The team is 10 and 0 and barring some bizarre twist of fate, they will win their division and move on to the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season.

That potential twist of fate could come in the form of the Round Robin Softball Tournament at the end of this season to determine the winner of the division. What that means is that even though a team may go undefeated for the entire season there is the potential of them not going to the Tournament of Champions if they were to lose in the Round Robin. Why bother to even play the season? Just skip it and go straight to the Round Robin if that is going to be the determining factor.

Even with this potential roadblock, I have faith in our girls and their abilities. With the way they were trained I feel nothing will stop them from getting there. Like General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War, nothing will stop them from reaching Atlanta. It has been a long journey for Mark, and for the girls, a journey that is far from over. Unless the nasty rumors of a re-draft being stirred up by some of the malcontented managers becomes a reality.

The Navy Seals Family is a good group and blissfully free of the type of parents that feel the need to yell at the players, umpires, and opposing team's parents, and I am proud to be a part of it. It evolves every year as the older players move up and new ones come onboard to take their place, and that of course means new blood in the stands as well. New parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, all become woven into the fabric of our little softball family.

One addition this year to our family is someone I feel I have to mention, Skip Pearring. His granddaughter, Brittany, joined our team this year and to be quite honest, I have never met anyone quite like him. He has got to be far and away the nicest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He has a natural rapport with everyone and the kids just love him.

He is always willing to help out any way he can whenever he is asked. Meeting and talking to someone like Skip, who seems to be perpetually in a good mood, makes me want to be a nicer person. Especially so when I see how the kids all react when he is around. Maybe because he is always supportive of the girls whether they are on and off the field, maybe it’s his gentle demeanor. Whatever it is, I wish they could bottle it and sell it at the snack bar before every game.

I know the season is not over yet but there are so few opportunities I get to say thank you to an entire group of people at once. So at this moment in time I don’t want it to slip away and look back and know I missed my window of opportunity.

So thank you Navy Seals, Andrea Aguilar, Alex Aguirre, Danielle Armenta, Michelle Baroldi, Brittany Cummings, Nena Cunningham, Rachel Dunn, Brianna Ferrari, Madison Ferrari, Alexandra Pernudi, Jamie Wilkinson, and Natasha Yamamoto for a great season, no matter how it ends. You have given your entire extended family a season to remember.

The “Shrub” Speaks: “Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend theirself.” - On how far we’d be willing to go to defend Taiwan, Good Morning America, April 25, 2001