The "Life's Passion" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was 12 years old and I was trying to convince my Dad that I should play midget-midget baseball. This is baseball for kids 9-12 years of age. A couple of my friends from the neighborhood were going to play for the Salvation Army team and I wanted to give it a try. I had played baseball all my life and was great at "off the wall" in the parking lot behind my house. Dad wasn't so sure I should be playing with some of the undesirables from the neighborhood. "I'll think about it, but don't count on it," he said. Later that evening after the Lancaster New Era was delivered and he had finished reading it, he told me there were tryouts for the team sponsored by Schick. This is a company that made electric razors in Lancaster. He told me he would take me tomorrow and see if I could make the team. Now, we lived in the north end of the city and Schick practiced at the far south end of the city at a city park. The area was a primarily black neighborhood, but Dad's friend Mr. Hawkins was the coach of the team. Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough! I arose early and got my baseball cap and my first baseman's mitt and put them in the car. The mitt was a gift from my Aunt Doris the previous year and I'm sure she didn't realize it was meant primarily to be used to play first base. After breakfast we headed to the practice field. Wow! It seemed like the entire southern end of the city was there for tryouts. My chances of making the team looked slim. That was until I realized the coach noticed I was the only one with a first baseman's mitt. Best move my Aunt ever made. Needless to say, I wouldn't be telling this story if I hadn't made the team. I was one of 5 white athletes who made the team. I later came to realize Schick was the only team in the league that had any black athletes. My life centered around baseball and I just loved it. My suit seemed to be a permanent part of me. My Dad bought me baseball shoes which had real metal spikes on the bottom of them. I was the first baseman for the team. We came in second to the Slaymaker Lock Company team which was from the center part of the city. They beat us twice during the season by one run each time. One game during the season was against the Salvation Army team. My friend from the neighborhood, Larry S. pitched and I hit my only homer of the year off him. I still believe to this day that he gave me the best pitch he could so I could hit the homer. He smiled at me as I rounded the bases. After the season we entered the "New Era Tournament" which was sponsored by the local newspaper and was for the best teams from the city and the county. We made it to the quarter-finals where we played Terre Hill. The newspaper reported that Tommy R. from Schick pitched a great game fanning 7, Johnny T. had a homer and triple, Butch C. belted a three-bagger and both Bob B. and LDub made terrific catches for the local club. We won 4-1 in the 5 inning game. The semi-finals were against a big Tri-Town team. The paper reported that Johnny T. fanned 8 batters, Tommy R. pounded out a homer, and LDub swatted the ball for a three-bagger with three on board. They didn't mention that Mr. Hawkins, who was coaching third base, was waving me home as I rounded third. He wanted so bad for me to get the grand-slam. Oh, I didn't mention anywhere in this story that I run like I have two left feet. Well, I was out at home, but we won 20-3 so the run didn't matter anyway. The finals were against, yep, you guessed it, Slaymaker. Tommy R. did his best, but we couldn't touch Tony M. We lost by one run again in the finals. Well, I had the best summer of my life and I still have the same passion for baseball that I did that year! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.