Don't mess with Second

I have several hundred pics from the last week and a half, and I have not had time to sort them. I wanted to get these two up and share this story, though, because we are still laughing about it.

Kyle and his new team had their first game in the All-Star play-offs this week. Well, they technically had all of their games, but this story is from the first one. These boys were so nervous: they only had a week and a half of practice together, they had never used the pitching machine that this league uses, and they were just suffering from overall nerves. Then they start playing and they learn that in this league the players are allowed to steal bases. They aren't allowed to in the league in our county.

So this other team starts stealing bases, and Kyle starts getting mad. I think he took it personally that these runners were stealing to second... HIS base, HIS territory. After a couple of stolen bases go by, he decides he has had enough. He starts picking up that ball and TACKLING the runners. I love this shot because you can see the dust clouds where he tore down the baseline to get to the wanna-be base thief. Kyle knocked him down so hard that the boy's helmet flew off his head. The parents around us were chuckling, and talking to us about it as the ump called the runner out. We let them all know that yes, he is planning on playing football in the fall.
Then the next batter hits a single, and decides to try to steal to second during the next up-to-bat. Dude...did you not see what just happened??? I know he is so skinny that his pants fall down without a belt, but that skinny beanpole is a powerhouse. Steal at your own risk!

Yep...once again Kyle scooped up that ball, beat the kid to the base, and tagged him so hard the kid fell and another helmet went flying. In fact, he laid back down on the ground, and the teams went to their knees before he got back up again and headed back to his dugout.

That was it. After that the kids would steal third and they would sometimes steal home, but they stopped stealing second base. And when they got to 1st, the coaches would tell them to just stay there. You just don't mess with a mad second baseman!