LET'S PLAY T-BALL

Coach Jim Burke of the Diamondbacks discussed batting technique with Lonnie Campbell.

Shortstop Kyle Capone, left, and second-baseman Chris Koch of the Athletics attempted a force out at second base with baserunner Kyle Garvey of the Diamondbacks.

Coach Alan Gregory of the Astros advised his son, Seth Gregory, prior to batting.

The teams slapped hands after the game.

T-ball coaches don't bother explaining the intricacies of the infield fly rule or the nuances of a perfect 4-6-3 double play. After all, they're dealing with 6- and 7-year-olds.

They just hope the kids can find their positions without getting lost along the way.

"During our first game, I'd tell someone to go play second base and they'd say, 'Where's second base, coach?'" said Terry Hill, coach of the Cardinals, a team of 6-year-olds in the Jackson Optimist T-ball League.

Halfway through the season, the kids area making tremendous progress, however.

"Now you don't have to tell them where second base is," Hill said.

But the whole idea surrounding T-ball is instruction rather than competition.

"It is strictly instructional," said David Meyer, commissioner of the Cape Girardeau Youth Area Baseball League. "We don't even keep score, not officially at least."

Hill said T-ball serves to give every child the opportunity to play all the positions, regardless of skill at those positions. And at the plate, instead of the standard of three outs per side, each team bats half its lineup each inning to give players more opportunities to get to the plate.

Score is not officially kept in the Jackson league either. But teams do keep track on the side.

Adults running the league try hard to eliminate the importance of the win/loss column, but the kids still want to know the outcome.

"No matter how young they are, the first thing they say is `Coach, did we win?'" Hill said. "The idea behind it is to take the competition out for the coaches so they are more apt to play everyone rather try just try to win."

Kids, he said, learn from their parents to be competitive at an early age.

"You almost have to have a non-competitive parent for kids not to be concerned with winning," said Hill.

In Cape Girardeau, there are six T-ball teams with 13 to 14 kids per team. Cape T-ball is open to 7-year-olds only.

Jackson offers two T-ball leagues, one for 6-year-olds and one for 7-year-olds, for a total of 12 teams with 14 players each.

At age 8 players move on to coach-pitch baseball.

While sometimes comical to watch in the field, the kids are learning the fundamentals of the game quickly.

"When we started, the kids just liked to throw the ball straight in the air," Hill said. "But we've taught them to throw past their ear.

"They've learned a lot. Not just the skills of the game but camaraderie with their buddies. They're making friends and learning that one guy can't do it all, it has to be a team effort."

Fun, of course, is the most important part of the game.

"Hitting the ball hard" is the favorite part of the game for Drew Halter, a member of the Cardinals. Although he hasn't yet hit one hard enough to get a home run, he said he hopes to some day.

Hitting is also the favorite aspect of the game for teammate Brian Hill "because you can hits balls into the outfield."

First base seems to be the favorite position among T-ballers polled.

"You can catch the balls and get them out," Brian Hill said.