“You think he’ll let me switch to a different team? There’s no way I’m playing with those crybabies anymore”

"I’m sorry, Rafi, but the other boys and their parents have requested that you not play in Little League this year,” said Coach Kahan.

Rafi stared at the phone in shock. “What? What are you talking about?” He began rambling, without giving the coach a chance to respond. “How could they say that? You all know that I’m the best player on the team!” Rafi looked toward his parents for support.

Rafi’s father looked at him sympathetically and Rafi’s mother approached him with arms outstretched to hug him. Rafi waved them away and ran up to the phone to shout into the speaker. “No, you know what, Coach? Actually, I don’t care what those boys say, because I’m playing baseball this season! And if they think we can all just handpick our own teams, then let’s do this! Fine! I don’t want to be on a team with a bunch of whiny boys who can hardly catch a ball — I don’t want to play with them either! I’ll pick some real players from the Bears and we’ll make our own team! Who needs them?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Marcus?” asked Coach Kahan. “Can one of you please pick up the phone and take me off speaker?”

Rafi’s father picked up the phone, while Rafi’s mother glanced nervously between her husband and son.