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Glory Days

As a youth, I loved baseball, so I tried out for Little League, but for some reason, I was not very good. I quit. My next enterprise was to take guitar lessons. I did well and eventually went to two Ohio State Fairs and won first place trophies twice. I was very proud of myself. I continued to play guitar and joined a band, writing lyrics, playing guitar and singing vocals.

It was not until I entered high school, that I thought I would give sports a try again. Wrestling appealed to me, so I tried out for the team and found out I was pretty good. It was a rough go, having to stay in my weight class. I lived about four miles from the city and I would run home every night, even getting into the runner’s zone, which is quite an experience. My first season, I went 12-2 and made the state championships. If you were the slightest bit over the weight limit, you had to wear garbage bags cut out like a uniform and run until you lost the weight. I made it to the second round, then lost. My second season I went undefeated and again made it to the state championships. This time I made it to the third round, then lost again. Wrestling gave me a lot of confidence in my physical abilities and I loved the comradely between teammates.

The next summer I decided to try out for Colt League baseball. I had played pick-up ball a lot and could play almost ant position. I started out in left filed, then the coach moved me to shortstop. I did very well and had an arm like a rocket. One day, our starting pitcher was having elbow soreness and the coach, knowing I had a rifle arm, asked me if I knew how to pitch. I did. I had developed a great fastball, a sinker, a pretty good curve, a screwball and a knuckle ball. I started the game and struck out the first three batters. Using the technique of my fastball and my variety of off-speed pitches, I did very well. In the sixth inning, someone yelled out from the other bench, you can’t throw a no-hitter against us. That’s when I realized I did have a no-hitter going. It made me a little nervous and I walked the first batter the next inning. Fortunately, he was taken out on a double-play, a pitcher’s best friend. I struck out the last batter, then sailed through the rest of the game, completing my no-hitter. I cannot explain the feeling of pride and grandeur when I got a standing ovation from the crowd. My teammates mobbed me and I had several bruises just from getting pounded by then for my accomplishment. We continued to play well and ended up in the regional state championship, but we lost three games to two.