I wouldn't even have known his name

We don't follow sports at our house, but this season baseball sort of took over our lives as we played our first season of Little League. Even at Nathaniel's and Nick's ages (7 and 5), there were many lessons to be learned about good sportsmanship, winning and losing, and how adults sometimes act like spoiled children -- in addition to just learning how to play the game.

This week I've paid attention to a sports story in the news, which is rare for me. It's the story of Armando Galarraga, the Detroit pitcher who came thisclose to throwing the 21st perfect game in MLB history. (Well, he DID throw a perfect game, but it won't be recorded that way for posterity.) In case you've been living under a rock for the past few days, umpire Jim Joyce made a TERRIBLE call -- verified by instant replay -- that placed a runner safe on first in the ninth inning. Because instant replay isn't recognized by baseball except for close plays at home plate, the call stands.

But what I've loved about this week is the exceptional sportsmanship that Galarraga has shown. He has been a perfect gentleman about it, even going out last night to hand the lineup to Joyce before the game. Joyce teared up, visibly emotional because of Galarraga's gesture. Joyce has apologized publicly and admitted that he made the biggest mistake of his career, and BOTH men have behaved admirably in the aftermath. I'm planning to sit our boys down in front of the Today Show's recap of the events this weekend and show them how we should ALL be behaving when things don't go our way. I know that to the world as a whole, this isn't life-or-death; it's "just" baseball. But to those two men, it's their jobs, their careers.

I will say this, though: I can count on one hand the number of current baseball players' names I could rattle off if someone paid me $500 to do it. Galarraga wasn't one of them five days ago, but he is today. So there's that.

And this is totally unrelated, but you know how I love to ramble off-topic. It's my forte. I completely fell in love with these pictures of Gabrielle's brand-spanking-new baby, June, this week. Seriously. Baby on a plate with a side of bloomy branch? You own me.