My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Oklahoma.
With that said, anything that happens in the great northeast as far as heat and humidity are concerned are not important. So what, it's hot....but I still have my home and family intact. Therefore, no complaining about anything....
Last night was an important in the life of the young leftie. His adult league was playing at a local field and he was tapped in to provide relief. "Why am I a leftie specialist when I want to start?" Oh, complaints, complaints, and some diva behaviors.
Why indeed? Well, Sport, here we go....you need to throw. Who cares if it is in the first or third inning? The ball is the ball...the catcher's mitt is the catcher's mitt and you need to throw.....And here we go.....
The field was a typical one that you see the kids play on during little league and legion games. The grass was not cut, the mound was low, the advertisements were from local vendors. In other words...it was pure baseball.
Dad and I snuck into the game without paying....actually, there were stands near the outfield with grass and dirt on them from when the landscapers weed-wacked. There were no tickets, hot dogs, or music. It was a field, bleachers, and a few spectators, and dogs (not the kind that you eat...the real ones). Buddy plays on a team called the "Irish"....I suspect it has something to do with the local pub
It was like the old days when we would have our bag chairs, bug repellent, and sun screen ready to go. No one inspected my bag or took away my kashi bar. No one noticed that we were there. The ten or so spectators were living in their own minds oblivious to what was going on.
Before the game, the big kid shared that he would pitch to one batter. "I'll throw five pitches....strike out..." "Why five? Aren't three pitches enough?" "Sure, but the guy will foul off two of them."
Gotcha...plans were made....5 pitches....bring it.....
Dad and I sit on the grassy bleachers....glad I did not wear anything light or new or even good....'cause I have a big grass stain on my bottom....back to the game....
The big guy is called to the mound and he runs out. No walk out music...no clapping...no scoreboard with his face and name spelled wrong on it. Just basic baseball with some tall leftie on the mound....he's nameless because there are no scorecards or magazines...just a big kid.....ready to throw five pitches, 'cause that's the plan.
Were there five pitches thrown? Uh, hmmmm...yeah....and a few more than five.....
OOps, what happened?
Well, the first batter was walked in four pitches. Ouch. Yeah, that's right...ouch. Man on first....
The second guy fouled off three bunt attempts before he popped it up to the mound and was out...
Uh, the next guy was walked....yeah....that's right....we like to have a little excitement in our lives. If everything was perfect then I would not know that my heart can take any kind of pressure in life....so as it beat 150 beats per minute.....
The next batter hit a pop up and the last batter a short dribble to the first base man.
Off to home and waiting for the the angry big leftie to make an entrance....and angry he was.....
As he hummed and hawed, I heard some expletives from his room and had to comment. "Leave the nasty words on the field, park, uh outside....this house is a no cuss house....get it?"
The cussing stopped but there was still some banging...."Uh, leave it for your locker room. I don't want any holes in the walls....get it?"
The banging stopped...then I made my way to another room while he debriefed with his father. Thank goodness that his dad knows what to say....something patient-like: "Hey, knock it off...." Yeah...something like that....And so, after a few father son moments, peace and tranquility were restored at the home plate. Plans were made and mom went off to read her latest Gillian Flynn novel...no baseball, fields, gloves, cursing and so on...just a story about a homeless woman who makes plans to marry a billionaire....the only problem is that she is already married to a guy named Billy who helps her to achieve her goal in order to extort millions from her new husband. That's all I know....a story about bigamy and meticulous planning.
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