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How can one Remember?
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How can one Remember? Hi again. Y'all. Funny folk, to me. Cheers. I was dreaming earlier and thought about who has had a positive effect on me. The first person I wanna mention is Dan Nahod. He could be dead as far as I know. But he was the BEST goddam baseball coach I ever met. And I have had many... we'll get to that. He taught me to be a catcher. Now I don't know how much you know about baseball. But a catcher, much like the pitcher is involved in EVERY single moment of the game. From Strike-one on down, EVERY single moment. Funny thing about the catcher, though... in a baseball game, besides the batter (opponent)... the catcher is the ONLY person looking "the other way". Meaning, he's facing the diamond full of players -- all focused on what the batter might do with the ball that is in the air. The hardest part of being a catcher is dealing with the pitcher. They are a finiky bunch, let me tell you. After years of being a catcher, I became a pitcher. I had a kick-ass catcher's mitt. You ever seen them? Something about it was way beyond ... That's it. Beyond. It was blood red, and not broken-in. I have a picture somewhere. They say put two balls in the pocket, wind it with rubber bands and stick it under your mattress. I didn't do that. There were games to be played. We played. I caught. It broke-in. You catch enough 90-mile an hour fastballs, the leather gives. Now, I was only like 9 or 10 years old. These pitchers -- I spent a lot of time with them. Fast balls, curve balls, my favorite was the Knuckle-ball. I just loved seeing that ball sail-in without ANY rotation. I can send a mean Knuckle-ball. Anyway... spending a lot of my free time behind batters... I finally made it to the "big leagues". Beyond Pee-wee and past Little League. By then, I want to mention Pat. No last name given. HE was a good coach, too. Used all kinds of incentives to make us better players. I was always behind him... a catcher, ya know. He had neat sunglasses. He never raised his voice in anger, only to make certain everyone heard him. He taught me how to steal<b> second base. </font></b>I was not a fast runner. A distance runner, but never really fast. On the other side of the coin, I could gun those fuckers down when they tried to steal<b> second base. </font></b>Or third, for that matter. My throwing arm was a monster. Why I ended up pitching in the long run. I once picked-a-fella-off of first base after the pitch was thrown. Cam Stram was the first baseman, then. Helluva piano player. Had a great singing voice. A fine first baseman, too. I pegged a dude on third, too. Same thing, leading-off too far for too long. My brother, Jim, was the third baseman, then. They should know better. Anyway -- crouched-down, calling the pitches, watching the scene... There are times that I see the world through the face-mask of the catcher. I had to wear shin-guards, a breast protector and a helmet with a wire-formed mask. I never really felt "safe" -- cuz the guy above me was swinging a bat! And the dude in front of me was hurling a leather projectile -- over and over. But it all worked out fine. When it comes to sports, I like baseball. Its the only game that doesn't have a "clock" on it. You gotta get three outs, back and forth... for nine innings. Those kinds of goals are interesting to me. Running-out the clock is not. |
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Baseball is a superior game. I liked playing it and I was never much good at it. I still love watching it. My old man and I used to watch the fast pitch softball adult league games behind the high school, the teams sponsored by local businesses and factories. They were as much if not more fun than the big leagues. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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Baseball was my favorite spot too play, and I played it with friends up until about 10 years ago. Now on the subject of childhood baseball, my freaking coach was a good one, I mean our team kicked ass, however, he trained us like we were going to war....it completely drained the fun from the game. Plus he was freaking drunk, makes Billy Bong Thornton look great in Bad News Bears, no shit!  Though I like to play football as well. As I side note I posted one of those "educational posts," eh it garners little response. Greater Than The Sum Of My Constituent Parts! 
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