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Our youth baseball season just wrapped up yesterday, at least locally.

My son Sam鈥檚 12U team played their hearts out in Everett this weekend, and in less than 48 hours, we鈥檙e packing up and heading to Cooperstown, New York, the baseball holy land, for a big and summer camp.

He鈥檚 beyond excited. I鈥檓 packing sunscreen, ibuprofen, all the portable chargers, and a deep, quiet hope that no one schedules an 8 a.m. game.

I鈥檒l be spending even more time with the same group of families I鈥檝e been sitting next to all season: cheering through rain, sunburns, and questionable umpire calls.

And after months of games, Gatorade, and forgotten gloves, I鈥檝e come to a conclusion. Hear me out.

The way to fix the divide in America 鈥� is for every adult in America to pick a random youth sports team and get irrationally, emotionally, unreasonably invested.

I鈥檓 serious. You don’t even need to have a kid. I am talking full commitment. Memorize the lineup. Bring your own sunflower seeds.

Just find a group of middle schoolers in mismatched jerseys and yell things like 鈥淕ood eye!鈥� and 鈥淲ay to battle!鈥� like your country depends on it. Because maybe it does.

On my son鈥檚 team, one parent is all in on MAGA. Cut off Trump shirt. Loud voice. Sunburned shoulders.

Another parent once took issue with something I said on-air about Tesla owners being perceived as more conservative lately, “I’ll have you know, I’m a liberal,” he said.

And yet, there they all were: high-fiving after a close play at the plate and tag-teaming to hand out post-game cupcakes like they had been allies for years.

Nobody鈥檚 yelling about the electoral college. We鈥檙e yelling 鈥淩un it out!鈥� to a kid who just tripped over first base.

It is a strange little world, and it works. It works because we are all there for the same reason. We want the kids to try hard, have fun, and remember to wear a cup. That is the agenda.

Imagine applying that energy to real life. Instead of arguing on Facebook about the fate of the nation, maybe just argue about who鈥檚 on snack duty.

You learn a lot in those bleachers. Like how to root for someone else’s kid. How to cheer when a kid who struck out last game finally makes contact. How to hold your tongue when the ump calls your kid out on a pitch that was closer to Spanaway than the strike zone.

It sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous.

But also 鈥� maybe it鈥檚 not. Because cheering on a kid who is not yours feels surprisingly good.

And what if we tried that in the real world? What if we encouraged a coworker we disagree with? What if we applauded a stranger who did something decent?

What if we stood on the sidelines and shouted 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got this鈥� to someone we did not vote for?

That is what we do in youth baseball.

We cheer for the effort. We cheer for growth. We cheer for kids we barely know.

And somehow, in our tiny corner of the world, it works.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.