sleuth
Livin' Like Thanksgivin'
Today is the day.
I will make my much unheralded return to the diamond after 7 years... to the sport I once lived, ate, breathed, and slept.
When I was in high school, I lived baseball all the way up until my junior year, but when I hurt my shoulder and wasn't able to throw the ball 30 feet, my coach cut me to make room for some younger players.
For about 5 years afterward, I did not have complete range of motion in my arm, and I couldn't put it behind my head without a great deal of pain.
Then one day, I woke up and the pain was gone.
So, here I am, 7 years later, much less athletic and much less limber than I used to be, and I'm going to play today. Our first game was actually last week, and I didn't play as expected, but today, our starting catcher won't be there and I'll be called upon to catch a doubleheader (please Legs, forgive me).
It's funny how things change. Over the course of 7 years, I've gone from baseball being the only thing I lived for to baseball being a sidenote in my childhood. I was devastated when I couldn't play anymore. Now, I'm happy just to be outside and enjoy the weather. I've grown up. I'm confident, able, and I eventually realized there are more important things to life than baseball.
Even if I only play for one season, which is a strong possibility, at least I'll go out on my terms this time. And when I am finished, my life won't have a huge void in it, because I am not the same person I was back then. I have other things to do. This is just for fun.
It was never a goal for me to come back and do this. The opportunity just presented itself and I took it... but I took it without hesitation. Sometimes, you think you spent a good deal of your life holding a baseball, but in the end it could have been the other way around all the time. Maybe I had to do this. Maybe I just wanted to.
Today, I'm going to catch up to 14 innings of baseball. Tomorrow I won't be able to walk. I may not throw any runners out today. I may not block every pitch that hits the dirt. I may not go 4 for 7 with a triple - scratch that - I won't get a triple - but I played. And at the end of the day, at the end of the season, I can say with all honesty, that I don't really care one way or the other if I play anymore.
If anyone wants to watch the comedy act (yeah right ), I play at Legion Field in Charles County today at 1 pm. (Directions at the bottom of this page: http://www.mdmsbl.com/smmsbci01directions.htm) I'll be on the Charles Natty Boh's team in black, red, and gray, wearing number 22. Stop by the dugout and say hey.
I will make my much unheralded return to the diamond after 7 years... to the sport I once lived, ate, breathed, and slept.
When I was in high school, I lived baseball all the way up until my junior year, but when I hurt my shoulder and wasn't able to throw the ball 30 feet, my coach cut me to make room for some younger players.
For about 5 years afterward, I did not have complete range of motion in my arm, and I couldn't put it behind my head without a great deal of pain.
Then one day, I woke up and the pain was gone.
So, here I am, 7 years later, much less athletic and much less limber than I used to be, and I'm going to play today. Our first game was actually last week, and I didn't play as expected, but today, our starting catcher won't be there and I'll be called upon to catch a doubleheader (please Legs, forgive me).
It's funny how things change. Over the course of 7 years, I've gone from baseball being the only thing I lived for to baseball being a sidenote in my childhood. I was devastated when I couldn't play anymore. Now, I'm happy just to be outside and enjoy the weather. I've grown up. I'm confident, able, and I eventually realized there are more important things to life than baseball.
Even if I only play for one season, which is a strong possibility, at least I'll go out on my terms this time. And when I am finished, my life won't have a huge void in it, because I am not the same person I was back then. I have other things to do. This is just for fun.
It was never a goal for me to come back and do this. The opportunity just presented itself and I took it... but I took it without hesitation. Sometimes, you think you spent a good deal of your life holding a baseball, but in the end it could have been the other way around all the time. Maybe I had to do this. Maybe I just wanted to.
Today, I'm going to catch up to 14 innings of baseball. Tomorrow I won't be able to walk. I may not throw any runners out today. I may not block every pitch that hits the dirt. I may not go 4 for 7 with a triple - scratch that - I won't get a triple - but I played. And at the end of the day, at the end of the season, I can say with all honesty, that I don't really care one way or the other if I play anymore.
If anyone wants to watch the comedy act (yeah right ), I play at Legion Field in Charles County today at 1 pm. (Directions at the bottom of this page: http://www.mdmsbl.com/smmsbci01directions.htm) I'll be on the Charles Natty Boh's team in black, red, and gray, wearing number 22. Stop by the dugout and say hey.