Out of Left Field
15 Mar 2020Today’s prompt: “Write a letter from a coach to a parent of a player, explaining why the player quit the team.”
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Morton,
It is with deep regret that I write to inform you that your son, Connor, has quit the Jonesboro Plumbing Pirates little league team. He may have already told you about this, but I felt it was my responsibility as his coach to follow up with you and make sure you know about what happened.
It all started three weeks ago when a speeding car lost control of its brakes and plowed through the guard rail on 26th Street and into left field, running over Peter Schwartz. It was a real tragedy for the team. Some of the kids saw his body as it was crushed under the car. They didn’t quite get over it. They didn’t quite have the same spirit in ball games any more.
That was bad enough, but then that freak lightning storm swept in the next week and struck the new left fielder, Kent Washburn. Kent was real popular on the team. The kids took it hard.
We kept playing. Weren’t winning any games any more, but we kept playing. For Peter, we’d say. For Kent. And then this week, tragedy struck again. We were playing the Thompson Lumber Tigers, when out of the blue, a giant eagle flew into left field, picked up [insert-your-name-here], and carried him off. I didn’t know they made eagles that big. It looked like there was a struggle in the air, and then [insert-your-name-here] fell. Broke their neck in the fall.
So that’s why Connor quit. He said I couldn’t guarantee his safety any more. Can’t say as I blame him.
Sincerely,
Coach Wally