Today was tryout day for the Timbergrove Little League. Unlike last year, when I was called in to coach an already-formed team, I had the opportunity to observe and participate in a brief workout of the new and returning players in the 9- and 10-year-old Mustang division. Four players from my team last year will still be in this division - one is already on the roster, one has requested to play for a different team, and the other two, who want to play together, will be in the draft.

As my reward for coaching a winless team in 2003, I will get the first draft choice when we choose up sides next Thursday. As it happens, the player I plan on picking is one of my guys from last year. He was a good player then - his teammates picked him as their MVP - and he's improved since then. Picking him ought to give me the inside track on my other former player and at least one other kid, a boy who happens to be a neighbor of mine. Kids are allowed to express a desire to be on the same team as another kid, and while coaches aren't bound by that, we do have a gentlemen's agreement to try to accomodate them. If I can use that to my advantage and get a couple of kids who already know me, I most certainly will.

I took some notes on each player during the workout, but there's not much to go on. The kids who stood out were fairly few, and with some 30 kids there, no one got a lot of opportunity to distinguish him or herself (one player there was a girl). The draft will be a crapshoot, and frankly I'm just hoping for some good citizens with parents who understand it's a game.

By this point, it also seems pretty clear that I am in fact the head coach of the Twins, by default if nothing else. I sure do hope I'll have an assistant who can stand in for me in May when I'll be otherwise occupied. Of course, maybe the baby will wait until the season is over before she makes her appearance. Surely that's the least she can do for her dad, right?