Baseball

Baseball was my first love from the age of 6 until 15 or 16. Had I not choked at the District Track Meet my freshman year, I would have played baseball instead of track during my high school years.

Memories of my younger years involved playing baseball all day long during summer breaks from about 5th grade through 9th grade. I played Little League from the time I was 8 until I was 15. My first year I played 3rd base because I was the only kid who could throw it that far. Usually the throws went about 20 feet too far the rare times I actually stopped a ground ball.

Upon starting my baseball career our pitcher Dave Miller, a kid who lived in the neighborhood, came over to practice. He gave me a catcher's mitt and threw one ball. It struck me in the mouth, broke a tooth with blood everywhere. It resulted in many visits to the dentist trying to repair that truth. Eventually they capped it.

This incident, before our first game, resulted in me being to afraid to swing for that whole season. The only time I got on base was when I walked.

The next year (9 years old) started out the same way - too afraid to swing. During one of the 1st games something happened that had me fired up and I was the lead-off hitter the next inning. I remember swinging (for the first time) and hit a long foul ball down the right field line. I was stunned. I could hit! So on the next pitch I swung again and had a triple. So my first hit ever in organized baseball was a triple and from that time on I continued to swing. By the end of the season I was selected for the All Star team for 8-10 Little League. The next year was the same, although I was moved to first base for most of the rest of my career and again I was chosen for the All Star team.

Best Hitter Award
Best Hitter Award Announcement
The next league was 11-12 and my success continued. Although I don't remember everything I do recall hitting over .600 those years and being awarded Best Hitter.

My parents required us to go to bed early and during the summertime we often were in bed before the sun set. We had no air conditioning so Joe and I left the window open and pulled the curtains back. So falling asleep was pretty difficult. I filled the time listening to Baltimore Orioles broadcasts. I can't count the nights I fell listening to them play. I always hated day games or when the team was on the west coast because there would be no broadcast when I needed it.

The last game I ever played consisted of us playing in Wrightsville, PA in a tournament. During batting practice I hit nothing but bombs (350 feet+) so I was confident it'd be a good day. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way. I went 0-3 with a walk, and had 3 errors. It was easily the worst game I'd played in years. The next day our family took off for a vacation to the west coast ending my baseball career.

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