OT: Your Baseball Playing Days

[wazoo]

Hey all,
I hope all is well :) today I played in the last tournament game of my first American Legion baseball season. Well I will tell you, Legion baseball is really a step up from Babe Ruth. It's quite the experience being able to play with some college kids and older guys, while I'm only heading into my Junior year of high school. All I can say was that it was a lot of fun today. The weather was beautiful, and I hit the ball further than I ever have. It was an easy 330 ft, right at the warning track, and some how the kid caught it. My goodness I hadn't been that excited for awhile. Overall it was a great season, and I'm excited to start fall baseball. So, does anyone have any baseball playing stories from back in the day?

[drcy]

I ripped my pants stealing second base when I was eleven.

[CharleyBrown]

I got hit by a pitch in the right elbow playing "senior league" when I was in 6th grade. Fractured my right elbow and growth plate. Coach gave me hell about it, and I quit the team after the game was over. Was in a cast for 6-8 weeks, and never played organized baseball again.

Side note - my English teacher refused to provide me with any assistance when it came to note-taking, and insisted that I write left-handed. I did (along with doing everything else left handed), and became ambidextrous. To this day, I can still write, bat, throw, dribble, etc. with both hands equally.

[kmac32]

Hey Waz,

I was a left handed catcher at Cubs camp and Lee Smith wanted to practice so I caught him. Remember after several warm up pitches, I told him I know you can still bring it as you haven't been retired from MLB that long. He threw me a 90 mile per hour fastball That made my mitt pop. Caught it in the webbing so it didn't hurt. That was a blast. Also remember being the closer for the campers one year and picked Big Lee Smith off of first base. I also lined a single off of Big Lee in my first at bat off of him. After the game he asked me where that one came from as i wasn't known for my batting average. Great Memories and yes, they are all on tape.

Kmac

[Craig M]

Hey Wazoo...nice read.

My son plays in Southern California at Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

Your upcoming Junior year is HUGE and you must put up the numbers to get looked at. The summer between my sons Junior and Senior year was spent mostly on the road getting looked at by college coaches. He knew that he wanted to play ball every day in the sunshine so we targeted So Cal.

We drove all night to get to Morgan Hill, CA so he could play in front of fifty college coaches. We got to the hotel at about 3pm so he could get a good nights rest. We checked into the hotel and he turned the tv on to check some MLB scores and discovered the SF Giants had a home game and Timmy was on the bump. So you guessed it, we drove into SF to go see the game (No tickets in hand).

Pulled up as the game was starting and a scalper approached us. He wanted $200 for seats behind home plate 10 rows up. I opened my wallet and only had $80. He said (not enough), so we started walking. Got twentyfive feet away and he came after us and said "take them for $80". Got into the stadium and found our seats and it was a sweet view all night long. Went to the ATM inside and spent $100 on food and beer all night.

Two weeks later, we did another road trip to Fresno so he could play in front of another fifty college coaches. He had a great weekend; went 5 for 8 with tons of action at SS errorless. Sunday afternoon came and coaches wanted to talk to him. Cal State Dominguez Hills told him he wanted him and would pay for a trip down to LA to visit the campus.

Long story short, he signed on November 1st, before his senior year of high school. He had no stress his senior year of baseball because he knew where he was going.

I don't know if you will take it to the next level but if you need some college coaches contact info; I know a handful personally and can put you in touch with a few at the next level.

Good Luck,

Craig M

[prewarsports]

I played at Utah State University in 1997 before tearing my rotator cuff. We played a game in Ogden, Utah and something was wrong with the Ogden Raptors Minor League Field we were supposed to play on so it got moved to a High School Stadium that had not been used for a while and the infield was like concrete (literally). I remember all during pre-game thinking no matter what happened, I was not sliding on that field because I already had a huge open wound on my leg from earlier slides (I was really fast back then and stole a lot). First at bat, they play me to pull as a Right Handed Hitter because their starter was pretty slow, fastball in the low 80's and I tried to go opposite way and it worked, I slashed a line drive over the first basemans head and I am thinking triple all the way, as I am rounding second I pick up my third base coach and just started saying prayers in my head that he keeps his hands up. Sure enough about half way down the line he starts telling me to get down. In the heat of the moment, between curse words in my mind, I dont even think about it and slide safely for a triple. It was so bad the pain didn't hit me at first but I loked down at my leg anyways just to be safe and what was at first a pin sized red dot turned into an apple sized red stain of blood in about 2 seconds. They bandaged me up and I finished the game, but the wound was still open in some form or another for Months afterwards. NO triple is worth that unless its the MLB World Series!

Rhys Yeakley

[z28jd]

I was a pitcher most of the time, but liked playing almost anywhere else(except catcher) better. I'm a lefty and I played every position at least once.

My favorite baseball story is the time my catcher came out before the first pitch, a kid I couldn't stand, and said we should go over the signs. I was throwing high 70's when I was 15, hitting as high as 81 then and didn't throw anything besides fastballs. I sometimes changed to sidearm if some kid was taking good swings, but normally I just threw inside to the first batter, as hard as I could and that was good enough to keep kids from getting comfortable at the plate.

Anyway, after he asks for signs, I basically said shut up and catch. So on the first warmup pitch I decided to bounce one in the dirt and I did...it broke his cup in half. Made my day back then :)

[mybuddyinc]

I stunk, and mean stunk.

Never made varsity in HS (small <400 prep school), and played only a handful of innings and at bats on JV (even as a junior).

Tried out for Dickinson College team as freshman. 16 tried out, 15 made the team, if you know what I mean. The coach felt bad for me and let me coach 1st base that year. We went 1-18.

[7nohitter]

MY baseball career ended in high school...much to the chagrin of my father who pitched AAA for the Houston Colt 45's and the Cleveland Indians.

[novakjr]

This is taking me back.. My age 13 season(1st year in the 13-15 age group) was the last time I can remember hitting under .500.(barely played that year, just bad luck that I wound up on a team loaded with 15 year olds). The last year I played was at 17, for a summer traveling team. I hit well over .600(I wanna say it was in the .640s but really can't remember for sure). I was always a solid contact guy. Never concerned myself with HRs. Hit a few, but my focus was always more on hitting the gaps. I remember taking great pride in the fact that I rarely struck out too. That age 17 season, I wound up with 2 total strikeouts that year, somehow both came in the SAME inning.

Caught and played some 3B. Pitched a little, had good movement, but didn't really have the mental end of pitching figured out. I was a perpetual nibbler, always walked way too many guys. For some reason, I always thought if I was letting guys make contact then I wasn't pitching well. Perhaps it was just the strikeout mentality of the time.. In hindsight, contact isn't such a bad thing...

Wrestling season always overlapped with baseball season, so I was never available for tryouts during HS..

As far as being able to still hit. I can tell you, it's not like riding a bicycle. Took my son to the cages a year or two ago, after not having picked up a bat in close to 14 years, and it wasn't pretty. Could've had something to do with my glasses though too(I'd always worn contacts when I played). I had a good laugh about it though..

[chris6net]

I grew up in the same town as Craig Biggio(I was 1 year older) and remember him being a great player even in elementary school. He was a catcher back then but he was always the best player from day one. In his senior year in HS he won the award for best football player in Suffolk County. Most of the really good players are good in all sports.

[Wite3]

I played little league ball through middle school. My distinction was two all-star teams and led the league in hbp twice...I liked to crowd the plate a bit. As a freshman in high school, I played one year of baseball. I quit after getting hit by a pitch from Rod Beck who was two years ahead of me. He was insane even in high school. I moved on to basketball after that and played basketball in high school, college, and the hollywood entertainment league until I was 32.

My father on the other hand played high school ball and college ball and then took off for 20 years. At age 41 he decided to try out for a 30 and over fast pitch league. He did not make it. The next year he hired an ex-major leaguer to coach him. At age 43 he tried out again and was drafted by a team. He played fast pitch baseball in that 30 and over league here in Southern California until he was 63 years old. He played third base and pitched. He played against ex-major and minor league players (he loves to brag he got two hits off of Oil Can Boyd in a game) and college players. Proud of him!

Joshua

[kkkkandp]

Although I was a better football player, I was a decent baseball player, too, and played all the way through freshman year of college.

In eighth grade my town (Palisades Park, NJ) team was in the Babe Ruth state tournament. We were playing in the semifinals against Ocean Township in Freehold at Nescafe Field. We were down 6 - 2 in the top of the fourth when I hit a towering fly ball to left center with two men on and almost immediately out of the box I broke into my home run trot. Unfortunately, my "homer" bounced off the 330 foot sign on the chain link fence and I had all I could do to hustle my ass to second base for a double. Needless to say the coach was not pleased, but I scored when the guy behind me singled. We still lost 8 - 7 and we were eliminated the next day.

In freshman year of college, the varsity had just come back from their Spring trip down south. We were scrimmaging them and a bunch of the guys were chewing tobacco. Never having chewed before, I figured I'd give it a try. An inning later I was at my first base position when a very good lefty hitter ripped a screaming one-hopper that clipped the edge of the infield grass and took a wicked hop headed for right between my eyes. When I jerked my head to avoid the ball I wound up swallowing the chaw. My teammates said I actually did turn green. Makes for a good laugh at reunions now, but at the time hurling in foul territory was not nearly as humorous!

[buymycards]

I remember striking out a lot in little league. A good day was when I got hit by a pitch and made it to first base. Ah, the memories.

Rick

[MacDice]

My playing career ended when I was diagnosed with cancer. By the time, I was healthy enough to resume baseball activities, I felt like my window of opportunity had closed and I walked away from the game something that I regret.

WAZOO- As a college coach, yes your junior year is important but it is not the end all if you struggle a little. I would recommend that as a hitter do all of your training and as much BP as you can with wood bats not with aluminum. If you can hit with wood then you can hit with anything. A lot of young hitters have flaws in their mechanics and approach that can be covered up with an aluminum bat but as you play against higher competition those flaws come out. Players also get worried that if they don’t early sign that they won’t end up getting an offer and they stress. The truth is sometimes it is better to wait. I have seen a lot of players sign in late June and end up in real good programs. The reason is grades, some players get cut or decided to leave programs and some programs lose players to the draft thus opening up scholarship money late. You also need to be realistic with yourself, I have seen players whose parents have spent more money sending their kids to showcases only to get a scholarship that was a fraction of what they spent going to said showcases. They would have been better off spending that money on their kids education. The last thing to also remember is the D-1 can be overrated. There are a lot of D-1 programs that are horrible and would lose constantly to a D-2, NAIA or JC team. Unlike other sports, you can still get a chance of playing pro baseball even if you are not at a D-1 team but at the end of the day your education and the degree you will earn is the most important thing.

[ChiSoxCardboard]

I was a pitcher, and was the first in my age group to throw a breaking ball around 5th grade. I was unhittable. Unfortunately, that was the pinnacle of my career. I played into high school, but never varsity. Once the hitters can hit a breaking ball, you need more than a 78 mph fastball to get by!

Still, quitting baseball is one of my main regrets. I could have ridden the varsity bench, but chose not to. Oh well. :)

Brad

[71buc]

I was an average player who loved the game more than it loved me. There are not a lot of places for 5'5" outfielders outside of Little League:D However, I was lucky enough to get a workout with the Padres in the mid 80's. That only served as confirmation of my mediocrity. It was a thrill nonetheless. I only wish I had realized that there were opportunies for a life in baseball that didn't require athletic prowess. At 38 I became an associate scout for the Reds and loved it. I had one of my guys drafted in my first year. It was exciting to hear his name announced and know I had a small part in it. I scouted for about five years for the Indians, Reds, and Nationals. At one point I had an opportunity to go to the MLB scout school with the possibility of a part time paid position. However, due obligations to my family I could not afford it financially. I had a wife and four kids who liked to eat on a regular basis and enjoyed the creature comforts such shelter. I admire scouts who work long hours on the road out of love for the game. They are under paid and often disrespected by the organizations they work for. Twelve years later I wonder if I should have said what the f**k and rolled the dice.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

My fondest memory from a game was my last play in high school. I stole second. There were bigger moments but that was my favorite.

[Tom Hufford]

I played for my hometown Pulaski (VA) Phillies for a few seasons in the late 1960s-early 1970s. I enjoyed it - but knew there was really no future as a Rookie League ballpark organist. Now, the best I've been able to determine, I am the only in-the-park live organist in the 100-year history of the Appalachian League, and really doubt there will be another! I really enjoyed meeting and knowing people such as Dallas Green, Wally Moses, Elmer Valo, - it was my first experience with professional baseball.

[frankbmd]

I was a catcher who could hit the long ball, but was slow afoot. I could have been called me "THE GREAT WHITE CAMPANELLA HOPE":D

My short career ended in 1958, like "Campy", when I hit the ball over the outfield fence and still got thrown out at third base.:eek: Yes I was that slow.

My handwriting continued to deteriorate, like Campanella's after the accident. I passed the prescription writing test with flying colors, so I ultimately went to medical school;). During my residency I actually worked at Wrigley Field for the Cubs in 1977 taking care of both the players and the fans during home games.:cool:

Cub regulars with bumps and bruises could always stay in the game. Visiting stars and semi-stars were always sent to the hospital for precautionary Xrays. It was my call as part of the job.;) I may have saved a few games for the Cubbies that year, but never appeared in the box score.:D

[toppcat]

I was your classic "no field, no hit" catcher and peaked in Little League at age 12.

[Leon]

There is actually one board member who remembers when I played little league as we played together. I won't go into my not-so-good childhood but my one play I will never forget was in our Little League All Star game as we were playing to go to the state Championship in Texas. I think it was 1974. I believe it was our Regional All Star game. We win that one and we go stay for a week in Waco at the Texas State Championships. I was a pitcher during the season and pitched half of every game and another player pitched half of every game. Our team went 19-2 and we won on our league. Our whole infield made the All Star team. It was a great season.
At any rate in that one All Star game, in an early inning, I was playing right field and a grounder was hit to me. The game was 0-0. The ball got by me and went to the fence. The guy got an inside the parker on my error. He missed 3rd base and we got him out. It was still 0-0. In the top of the last inning, with the score still 0-0 I had a ball hit to me, it went right over the first baseman,s head, bounced in and then bounced out.....it was a fair ball. I ran over to it, picked it up and turned without looking and nailed the guy going to second. I will never forget that throw or our manager saying " Big League play Luckey, Big League play!!". IN the bottom of that (last) inning we got a run on an error and won the game. That week of being in Waco with the rest of the team and getting to play a few games there (we were #4 or #5 in the state that year, after it was said and done) were the best times of my baseball career. I ruined my arm throwing way too many curves and didn't play a lot after that.

[peterb69]

I was a power hitting 3rd baseman & 1st baseman. Played hardball from little league thru high school. Even went to Ted Williams Baseball Camp and got Ted's autograph. George Brett was (is) my idol.

Then after college, I played in many softball leagues, 3 times a week to my wife's chagrin.

Haven't played anything but strato-matic baseball the last 15 years. But I will be 51 tomorrow, and Cape Cod has a great Old-Timers softball league where you must be 55 & older. So that gives me 4 more years to get back into playing shape.

Geez I love baseball.

[Deertick]

Like Peter, I was a third baseman (tho Mike Schmidt was my idol). I never flinched from a ball and broke my nose more than a few times from bad hops on those rocky infields of my youth. Unfortunately, I was a fly ball hitter on fields with no fences. :( Even in JC, I only remember two ball fields that had fences, and on one of them LF was a ground-rule double. :mad:

Made my college team as a walk-on and had 3 HR's in my first 10 PA. I really like fences. :D A broken ankle playing racquetball ended that run.

After playing softball for several years, I moved to FL and played in the MABL for 8 years.
My fondest memories are of pitching under the lights in the Fall Classic tourney at Jack Russell Stadium. No hitter thru 7, then my fielders came unglued (or came back to earth) with 6 unearned runs with no outs in the 8th.
Phillies fans might understand this: In the first inning I hit Lynn Daulton in CF (2 RBI), in the 4th I hit the light standard in LF (solo), and in the 6th I hit Howard Johnson in LF (1 RBI). Best. Game. EVER. :D

[kmac32]

Remember catching at Cubs camp and talking shit behind the dish to batters as they came up. Got Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame to strike out this way. Also had a play where got Eddie caught in a run down between third and home and tagged him out for the last out of an inning.

[itjclarke]

I have many many good memories from my playing days, but most only have significance to me. I was a lefthanded pitcher and 1st baseman throughout my life (though did play everywhere/anywhere else... even the left side of the infield early in HS).

During those years, I was lucky enough to cross paths with a few future MLBers, and one memory stands out. I was 14 and pitching in "senior leagues" against 15 year old Eric Byrnes' (later of the A's and DBacks) team. Earlier in the game, he'd gotten stuck in a run down and being the man child he was, just ran over our 13 year old first baseman.. I remember it being dramtic like Albert Belle v Fernando Vina c 1996, but I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Anyway, when he was due up later in the game, my coach told me, "I don't care what else happens, you hit that m**her f**ker". I dutifully went out, threw two butt high fastballs right at him. He jumped out of the way both times.. then laced my next pitch into left field for a double.:D That was the first and only time I'd ever been ordered to hit someone.

My fondest memory from a game was my last play in high school. I stole second. There were bigger moments but that was my favorite.

I wish I ended HS career on a better note, but I simply flew out to right field.. I think I had tears in my eyes. I wanted to play college ball, but never developed into a D-1 player.. maybe in part because by my latter HS years I was focusing more time on football and just sort of hit a plateau baseball wise. I did play a few years in a hardball league after college, which was great... and still have hopes of putting the cleats again and playing in the old style (1890's) league that plays in Golden Gate Park.

[steve B]

I was really bad at baseball - Never got out of the lowest little league, which became T-ball a couple years after I became too old. Couldn't hit much, couldn't catch, and I'm about as slow a runner as you'll find. I just didn't get much in the way of large motor skills until partway through Highschool.

I did end up being a fairly decent catcher for modified pitch softball. Mosyly on durability. I'd played a few positons, some ok, some disastrously. (Infield no, not a good idea. I'm right up there with Chico Escuela.) The one game the regular guy decides to leave his ankle on the plate as someone is scoring. Broken ankle, and pretty much done altogether. Standard backup guy takes a foul ball in a rather unfortunate place two innings later. So I became the catcher. Totally messed people up by eventually abandoning the shin guards and chest protector. (It was modified pitch, now windmill, and no big arch, hardly anyone could get a pitch over about 30, although a couple I think were in the low 50's.) Did just fine for 3 years unil the club stopped having a team.

Being so slow, I'm pretty proud of my two triples. :D Both very hard hits, one 250+ but on a field with no fence, The second a line drive the outfielder ducked like a pitcher, but on a field with a fence. The rest of the time I'd pretty much look like a swing for the fences guy in BP then went for singles in the game since they'd back up and leave a lot of room.
Those of us with little actual talent have to be sneaky.

Steve B

[HexsHeroes]

.
It was our team's first round game in the Michigan Little League World Series. Top of the 1st inning, I am playing Left field, and batting fifth in our line-up. Deep fly ball to left and I go back, back, back, and leap upwards with glove raised to snare the ball. Ball meets leather, my face meets the top rail of the the outfield chain-link fence, and ball pops out of glove on the opposite side of the fence for an opponent's home-run. I recoiled from the impact, head bent down, spitting blood. Lacerated the inside surfaces of both lips, but no broken teeth. Unfortunately, I had to be removed from the game immediately. Sat the bench the rest of the game, watching my team lose 1-0 to the team that would go on to win the Michigan Little League World Series, and advanced to the regional Little League qualifier (where they would lose).

That was forty years ago, but I still can remember it clearly, like it was yesterday.

[pitchernut]

My one year of playing some sort of "organized" baseball. We could barely get enough players and there was only 6 official school uniforms. This was a international school in Japan and as a high school team we were usually beaten by Japanese junior high schools and forget about playing the Japanese high schools....

[MooseDog]

Grew up in Oakland in the 1970s with its great history of baseball. I was a terror in the local Japanese baseball league but also a bit of an outcast since I was only 1/2 Japanese. For some reason my parents didn't get me into the local Babe Ruth league where everyone else in the city played.

Had to try out for the high school, and made the team as a pitcher. Coach years later confided that he figured with my control I could throw batting practice, which is what I did pretty much my sophomore season.

We had a very good high school team. In my soph season I only got in 7 innings, usually when we were way ahead and coach didn't want to waste any of our "real" pitchers. I had great control and a Barry Zito curve but probably wouldn't have hit 90 on the radar on a good day with a fast gun and the wind behind me. Luckily our catcher was an extremely smart dude and knew most everyone's tendencies. He basically told me what to throw and where to throw it so I did. He knew how to work the strike zone too. I can't tell you how many guys we struck out with pitches a foot off the plate because of his ability to "frame" the pitch.

I remember one game against Oakland Tech I struck out the side in the last inning and it was their three best hitters, one of whom was a guy named Rickey Henderson, yeah that one.

That summer, my coach convinced the guy who ran the best summer league team for high school age players to take me on. While he did, he never intended to let me play and I never got to play all summer until our elimination game in the State Championships when we ran out of pitching. I think he was hoping I'd quit but I loved baseball too much and was learning a lot just being around all that talent.

Of the 20 players on the team, two signed and left during the season (Henderson and his best friend Fred Atkins - if you saw Rickey's HOF induction speech he credit's Fred for keeping him real), and 7 others eventually signed pro contracts with two ultimately having MLB careers - Henderson and Lloyd Moseby (Blue Jays and Japan).

In my Junior high school season I was slated to the be the 2nd pitcher and probably start against the two weak teams in our league. However our star pitcher ran into "academic difficulties" not to mention being out of shape. Coach asked our catcher if he thought we could get by with me and he said yes. Eventually the star pitcher ran out of chances and got kicked off the team. We easily won the league that season and I made the all-city team. I won 11 of the 15 league games (2 losses) and had a one-hitter to boot.

Senior year didn't go so well as my catcher had graduated and we couldn't find anyone to replace him. I mean, it was bad, guys who couldn't even catch the ball let alone throw anyone out. The only two decent games I had were when Moseby volunteered to catch. I did manage to hit a HR, my only one in high school, in our last game.

Something happened to my shoulder when pitching to kids during my summer job and it was never the same, so that was that.

Started coaching and won two city championships with mostly kids from my neighborhood and their friends. Moved up to summer league high school and formed a traveling team. Had some success and one player made it up for a cup of coffee with the Giants and is in the 1993 Topps set. Could never get a sponsor for the team though, and by the mid-1980s I was broke, unemployed and dealing with depression so I stopped.

It was all great fun though.

PS. The Rickey story always brings a "yeah, right" from most people. I used to have the scorebook from that game as proof - I asked my coach (I later became assistant baseball coach at the high school) if he still had the book from that year when Rickey got called up by the A's - but in one of my many moves it got lost.

[David W]

3 memories. I played for a Christian high school in Peoria, Illinois.

When I was on the JV baseball team in 1978 we played Spalding Academy (A Catholic HS). The star player for Spalding was Joe Girardi, who had quite a rep in HS, and it was well known he was going to Northwestern. Their varsity thumped our varsity pretty good as I recall.

In probably 1980 we played Yates City HS, which now no longer exists. Their home field was the town park. There was a tree in left center about 250 feet from home. Hit the tree = ground rule double. I bet there were 10 ground rule doubles.

Here is link to now closed high schools in Illinois - Yates City RIP

http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id68.html

Then at the NAIA level I played 1 year of baseball and got to make a diving catch in left field to end an inning. That was my college high light - haha.

[bigtrain]

I was basically a no arm ballplayer and it got so that there was no position for me to play in the field. They would put me out in right and try to pitch to keep the batters from going that way. Though I could hit, I struck out a lot especially with the bases loaded. Mr. No-clutch.

[kmac32]

3 memories. I played for a Christian high school in Peoria, Illinois.

When I was on the JV baseball team in 1978 we played Spalding Academy (A Catholic HS). The star player for Spalding was Joe Girardi, who had quite a rep in HS, and it was well known he was going to Northwestern. Their varsity thumped our varsity pretty good as I recall.

In probably 1980 we played Yates City HS, which now no longer exists. Their home field was the town park. There was a tree in left center about 250 feet from home. Hit the tree = ground rule double. I bet there were 10 ground rule doubles.

Here is link to now closed high schools in Illinois - Yates City RIP

http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id68.html

Then at the NAIA level I played 1 year of baseball and got to make a diving catch in left field to end an inning. That was my college high light - haha.

David,

Did you ever play The Pekin Chinks. I'm from Pekin and yes, that really was the name.

Kmac

[David W]

David,

Did you ever play The Pekin Chinks. I'm from Pekin and yes, that really was the name.

Kmac

Never played Pekin, but had friends that went there.

They were the Chinks when I was in HS, but I think in the mid 80's became the dragons or something.

[kmac32]

Never played Pekin, but had friends that went there.

They were the Chinks when I was in HS, but I think in the mid 80's became the dragons or something.

Yeah they did. I graduated in 78 and believe they changed it in the early 80's. Odd community to grow up in.

[dealme]

I played DIII college ball at a small school in Indiana, and while I wasn't terribly successful, I had a great time. It was great being able to get away from schoolwork for a couple of hours a day and focus on the game. Plus, I made some great friends that I am still close with today. One of those friends happened to be the assistant coach, who was also a fellow Red Sox fan. Long story short, we attended game four of the 2004 World Series together, something that I will cherish for years to come.

[t213]

When I was 15 our team stunk. The coach said if anyone hit a homerun he'd buy the team pizza. I hit a 3-run homer in the first inning over the 300 foot sign in left field. We lost 25-5, but after the game we all piled in his Econoline van and he bought us pizza.

In the same year I was a pitcher. I threw hard, but had control issues. The same coach was warming me up in the bullpen before a game and I hit his foot squarely with a fastball - broke his big toe. He jumped up and down yelling an admirable string of curses and then said "I think you're all warmed up."

Andy

[mattsey9]

When I was a student at Indiana University in the early 1990's, the Kansas City Royals announced that they were holding an open tryout one morning near Bloomington. My roommate and I got up early and headed out to seek our fortunes. He was a graduate student who had gone to Ole Miss for his undergrad, and I'd gone down there one weekend the semester before for a football game. He'd been a student manager for the baseball team there so he got us hooked up with a couple of Ole Miss baseball shirts. I wore it to the tryout that day.

When we got there, we signed up with the scouts. This was when the Royals were one of the top organizations in baseball. They'd won the Series in '85, and Brett & Saberhagen were still around. We got loose, and the scouts had us break off into positions. My buddy was a catcher, so he went off to the bullpen to work with the pitchers. I was a first baseman, and went off to take fielding while others were hitting.

Quite simply, I had the day of my life. I picked every low throw out of the dirt cleanly, snagged a couple of vicious line drives and even managed to pull a fastball over the right field wall. It was all I could do not to jump out of my skin and act like I'd been there before.

There were three first basemen there that day. There was one kid straight out of high school, and he was helpless out there. I was a good local player having a great day, and then there was the third guy. He came to the plate, pulled out a wood bat and drove five straight pitches over the fence. He pulled a business card, handed it to the chief scout, and left. Turned out he was fresh from playing in the College World Series. That left me and the other guy to finish out the day playing first base. He got worse, and if anything I got better.

So what was the great moment? Near the end of the day, one of the scouts complimented me on my bat speed and asked me what my average had been that season at Ole Miss. That was my great moment. A major league scout thought I was good enough to have been playing baseball at a powerhouse SEC school. :D

Now the funniest thing I was ever part of on the diamond happened a few years later. I was playing on a MABL team in Indianapolis that was in the middle of the pack. Something clicked mid-season, and we couldn't stop winning. We ended up playing in a tournament called the Hoosier State Games. Kind of a mini Olympics for Hoosiers. We were one of four teams to enter, and won the semi-final easily. Easily because we had ringers. Our shortstop's sister was dating a few of the guys on the Indianapolis Indians, and a couple of them wanted in. One of those guys knew a lefty pitcher who had just been named all Big-10 at Illinois, and he came to pitch the final for us. This guy was confident as hell. We knew that the other team had a few former pros as well, but he figured he couldn't be beat.

They led off in the top of the first, and our ringer struck out the first two guys he faced. Then came the third guy. He was about forty years old, and we heard he'd had a cup of coffee with the Brewers several years prior. He walked to the plate looking broken down and arthritic. Our guy sneered as he blazed a fastball past him for strike one. I had a great view from first base as the batter turned the next pitch around for a home run that went well over 400 feet to left center. As he hobbled around the bases, you could visibly see our pitcher's ego completely deflate. He lost the strike zone completely and didn't make it past the third inning. He kept muttering to himself on the bench, "That guy's older than my dad..." Hilarious. Taught me just exactly how good MLB guys are when someone who barely made the Show tore up a really good amateur team.

[tbob]

I played catcher from Little League through high school, good hitter for average but little power. Good defensively but not the fleetest afoot.
American Legion used to be wonderful. When I coached and we won a State Championship in 1989 it was one of the greatest days of my life. Unfortunately kids started finding other things to do during the summer from video games to working to just hanging out and no longer wanted to put in the time necessary for all the practices and games and started playing Senior Babe Ruth instead which had few practices and fewer games. But most importantly, football became a 12 month sport down South with spring football and summer camps and basketball became a year round sport also with summer camps, AAU basketball, etc. Sadly the 3 sport athletes are only a memory as kids want to specialize in one sport. :(

[itjclarke]

Sadly the 3 sport athletes are only a memory as kids want to specialize in one sport. :(

Totally agree, it is sad. I was a 3 sport athlete most of my life. It could get tiring, but each sport seemed to compliment the next. This is probably oversimplified, but how I remember it.. baseball developed the hand eye coordination, arm strength and good hands, basketball helped with body control, lateral quickness and balance, and also hands, football really made you explosive in bursts (I also developed whatever leaping ability I ever had doing football drills) and stronger. Football also seemed by far the most important from a team and character building standpoint. Bums me out to think most kids today miss out on that variety now. Just think of guys like Bo Jackson, Brian Jordon, Danny Ainge, Jackie Jensen, Dave Winfield, and of course Jackie Robinson, who all achieved so much as multi sport stars.

[David R]

I spent a few seasons in the Midwest League for the Braves - threw a 91 mph fastball and not much else but it was good enough to make the All Star Team one year.

[itjclarke]

I spent a few seasons in the Midwest League for the Braves - threw a 91 mph fastball and not much else but it was good enough to make the All Star Team one year.

Awesome! I wish I could feel what it is like to throw 90 just once.

[piedmont150]

True Story: 1978...

JV baseball game at Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH. (I was on the visiting team) It was a very memorable game for many reasons. Open field no fence. I was a left handed hitter and cranked a long fly well over the right fielder's head and........landed it squarely on the fly into a baby carraige being pushed by an unsuspecting mother who thought she was evidently well beyond the reach of any hit balls. I motored all the way around the bases and mom was absolutely freaking out thinking her baby was going to be injured. The good news is the baby was absolutely fine and was not hurt. Funny sight seeing the right fielder trying to coerce the lady to get the ball back in play. The bad news is the umpire took my home run away and awarded me a ground rule double. I was not happy and asked the umpire to show me the rule regarding baby carraiges in the rule book.
Still going strong at 53...

[Mike (18colt)]

I wanted to be a major leaguer, play like my idol Pete Rose, but lacked talent.

The good - senior year of high school, I couldn't hit anything. Going into the final game, I had a whopping 3 bunt singles, and nothing else. I hit an opposite field home run hitting out of the 9-hole. Still have the ball 21 years later. Despite a teammate hitting 3 homers that game, the local paper took notice of my achievement.

The bad - same season, I'm on the mound. My catcher gives me the sign for "hit the batter". No problem. I intended to hit him, but grooved it over the center of the plate. The ball hasn't landed yet. The hitter was a guy named Creighton Gubanich. He hit a grand slam in his first MLB at bat, and briefly played for Boston and Oakland. Oh well, control wasn't my strong suit.

Baseball was fun despite its ups and downs. You will miss playing it someday. Softball doesn't really fill the void, but it makes you think it is filling the void. I still have time to master a knuckleball and become a reliever if age doesn't get in the way. Good luck to you.

Mike (18colt)

[bigred1]

Played high school ball with Denny Naegle, used to be something to brag about. lol. Played a little community college ball, only threw in the mid 80s, not good enough for a righty. Ten years ago played in adult league at 35, was a 28 and over league that started as 30 and over, retired after facing ex-Oriole Ken Dixon throwing to ex-Oriole John Stefero and then they lowered the age to 26 and I just couldnt keep up or catch up. Also won the opportunity to be the bat boy for the Orioles for a game in 1983. Cal Ripken jumped on Eddie Murrays back to prevent him from getting onto the field first. Rick Dempsey did not start and had a rotten attitude at the end of the bench and the nicest players, to me, were Al Bumbry and Denny Martinez. Tim

[packs]

Fondest memory for me was my last Little League at bat. I was in the Senior League (15 or 16) and stunk all year. I couldn't hit anything. As luck would have it, on the final game of the season, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th (we only played 7 innings), I step up to the plate with two men on. My team was down by 1 run. Everything clicked for me and I hit a seeing eye single right over the shortstop's head. My teamate scored the tying run and we won when the pitcher threw a wild pitch to the next hitter.


Another great moment was meeting Mariano Rivera when I was going into 6th grade. This was the summer of 1995. The Yankees had a homestand and the baseball camp I was attending, Frozen Ropes, arranged for a mystery Yankee to come to the camp and meet with the kids. Low and behold that mystery Yankee turned out to be none other than a rookie named Mariano Rivera. He came over and spoke to us for a few minutes about what it was like to be a Yankee and took the time to sign autographs for all of us.

Even then, before he was anything, he was the nicest guy you can imagine.