We made it to the city league championship game.
We were in the ‘away’ dug out in Hatten Park Stadium.
This park was built back in the thirties during the depression.
It is HUGE! 470′ to dead center. My grandpa worked on it for one of the government programs they were using back then to get people back to work.
Coach sent me out to be the starting pitcher.
I ran out to the mound, grabbed the ball, reared back and let fly a warm up pitch that landed about… ten feet short. Huh!?
I got the ball, dug in, reared back and let er’ fly again, this time I was about… five feet short. Huh!?
“I got it now though”, I thought.
So I reared back, let er’ fly again and finally hit the mitt.
Steeeriike!
As I was gearing up for my next warm up pitch, Coach walked out, with a smile on his face, took me by the shoulder and walked me up to where the little league mound would be!
They had not set up the little league field yet!
I had ran out onto the mound and set to. Well, that was the regular mound, 60′ 6″ inches away, a tad far for a ten and a half year old kid. But I got er’ dialed in!
When Coach took me by the shoulder he looked at me and said, “That’s what I love about you.” As he placed me at the correct distance. I’ll never forget that.
I didn’t really know what he meant either. As I would get older I would come to understand what he was alluding to. I think what he was referring to was HEART!
I was real small growing up so I was never the biggest, strongest, fastest or smartest guy, but I have heart. I would come to see that characteristic in kids that I coached and my own kid’s as they grew up playing sports. You gotta have heart.
My dad won twenty bucks that day too, when I hit a double off of the opposing pitcher, who later in life would become a real good friend of mine.
We won! 11-2 that day, if memory serves.
I probably gave up the two runs. But who can remember that far back. After all, it was such a long time ago. Ha!
I still have the Championship Trophy.
On my dresser… in my bedroom.
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