The kids of baseball
Aug. 10th, 2005 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisLast night, Felix Hernandez pitched a wonderful game for the Seattle Mariners. Felix is 19 years old. There have not been many Mariner games this year (or last) that one could even come close to calling wonderful but last night was one and it was great.
I've been a baseball fan since Dizzy Dean and PeeWee Reece were announcers (not players... I'm old, but not that old) on TV and I used to watch on the back porch with my Grandpa.
But, the best baseball of my life, my baseball of choice is minor league baseball. I first got really hooked when I lived in Charlotte, NC. They had a double A team - the Charlotte O's that was part of the Baltimore fan club. They played in a park that was perfect. A 4,000 year old wooden park called Crockett field. It was in the middle of an old neighborhood and it was perfect - right down to the seat in section F, row 1, that had my name painted on it.
I never missed a game. I was there the night my husband won a Pulitzer prize. (He was part of a group that won and they won the only Pulitzer that does not net a money prize but still, he thought I should have been with him but... it was opening night at the ballpark... the first game of the season... Ok, now, someone want to start the list of reasons that marriage didn't make it?)
People wax poetic about baseball a lot. It is good poetic fodder. But, I'm here to tell you that minor league baseball is the heart and soul of what baseball is all about for the players, for the fans, for everybody. We have a single A team about 30 miles north of here where a pig delivers the balls to the umpire every game. In Charlotte, I routinely scored on Free Grocery Night.
I not only watched Cal Ripkin play for 3 Summers, I had him over to dinner with the rest of the team several times. Those boys can eat and they get paid squat so a free meal to them is manna from heaven.
They do not whine about having to play every day. They do not carry on about not getting any days off. They have one goal that everyone on the team shares and they work hard and it is oh so much fun to watch.
My favorite player of all times - all times - was a guy named ... wait for it - it's worth it - Drungo La Rue Hazewood. The announcers LOVED him... Dru un go la rue hazzzzzzzzzzze wood!!!! He was an outfielder who could hit. He was a sweet, fun guy, and boy could he hit a ball. He was so much fun to watch.
In 1980, he had a batting average over .500. He went to the big leagues and played in one maybe two games in September totally bombed and was never heard from again.
The fun part of about the Mariners sucking so much this year is that they are bringing kids up from the minor leagues right and left. These kids are such great fun to watch. I think Felix Hernandez will be heard from again.
I've been a baseball fan since Dizzy Dean and PeeWee Reece were announcers (not players... I'm old, but not that old) on TV and I used to watch on the back porch with my Grandpa.
But, the best baseball of my life, my baseball of choice is minor league baseball. I first got really hooked when I lived in Charlotte, NC. They had a double A team - the Charlotte O's that was part of the Baltimore fan club. They played in a park that was perfect. A 4,000 year old wooden park called Crockett field. It was in the middle of an old neighborhood and it was perfect - right down to the seat in section F, row 1, that had my name painted on it.
I never missed a game. I was there the night my husband won a Pulitzer prize. (He was part of a group that won and they won the only Pulitzer that does not net a money prize but still, he thought I should have been with him but... it was opening night at the ballpark... the first game of the season... Ok, now, someone want to start the list of reasons that marriage didn't make it?)
People wax poetic about baseball a lot. It is good poetic fodder. But, I'm here to tell you that minor league baseball is the heart and soul of what baseball is all about for the players, for the fans, for everybody. We have a single A team about 30 miles north of here where a pig delivers the balls to the umpire every game. In Charlotte, I routinely scored on Free Grocery Night.
I not only watched Cal Ripkin play for 3 Summers, I had him over to dinner with the rest of the team several times. Those boys can eat and they get paid squat so a free meal to them is manna from heaven.
They do not whine about having to play every day. They do not carry on about not getting any days off. They have one goal that everyone on the team shares and they work hard and it is oh so much fun to watch.
My favorite player of all times - all times - was a guy named ... wait for it - it's worth it - Drungo La Rue Hazewood. The announcers LOVED him... Dru un go la rue hazzzzzzzzzzze wood!!!! He was an outfielder who could hit. He was a sweet, fun guy, and boy could he hit a ball. He was so much fun to watch.
In 1980, he had a batting average over .500. He went to the big leagues and played in one maybe two games in September totally bombed and was never heard from again.
The fun part of about the Mariners sucking so much this year is that they are bringing kids up from the minor leagues right and left. These kids are such great fun to watch. I think Felix Hernandez will be heard from again.
