[ColtWinchester]

I still have the St. Louis Cardinals team autographed baseball from a game during the 1986 season. I was 11 years old and had recently been released from the hospital after having my 5th foot and leg surgery in that short timeand at my favorite place. Busch Stadium! I can still remember the feeling of anticipation, the sun on my face, and the sounds of the ball park. The smell of the hotdogs and bark of the memorabilia vendors. And then the disappointment of seeing kids lined up at the railing getting autographs of their favorite players, realizing with my legs in casts I couldn’t get there to get my ball signed that i brought. I was just happy to be there seeing my favorite team. I asked my dad “can we get down there to get autographs?” And my dad tryied to explain to me that he probably wouldn’t have much luck getting their attention with all the kids there” and how it’d be too hard to get my wheelchair down. A few minutes later An usher in a fancy red uniform tapped me on the shoulder and held out an official game ball with the entire teams signatures, and they were all real, in different pen colors. He had overheard our conversation and took it upon himself to get ahold of someone in the dugout and soon they brought the ball to him to give to me! I was ecstatic and couldn’t have had a better memory of baseball, my dad and kindness of strangers