If you attend a baseball game on any given day, you will witness the “Mom Effect.” The Mom Effect is an enthusiastic bleacher cheering section for a Monday night Tee Ball game or a District Championship game, rain or shine or winter cold in May or blistering heat in August. The Mom Effect is a first year player or a league All Star who looks out in the crowd for his/her Mom after a base hit, waiting for that Mom to applaud and raise a sign or wave back her approval. The Mom Effect is a parent racing home to retrieve a catcher’s glove, which was forgotten and is needed for a game in roughly 15 minutes. That Mom makes it home, starts dinner, helps Jenny with her geometry homework, gives her husband 5 minutes to vent about his job, then gets back to the game on time with 2 minutes to spare. If you or someone you know in your family has experienced the Mom Effect, let us all rejoice that Mom and wish her Happy Mother’s Day.

I love the Mom Effect and am thankful that my Mom, Joanne, has been there for me as a player, parent, and coach all these many years and baseball games. Happy Mother’s Day to all my RI Baseball Community members.