The "Lancaster's Baseball Hero!"

It was an ordinary day.  Thinking back to when I was a young boy and trying to get my Dad to let me play organized baseball.  Wasn't until I was 12 years old that he finally broke down and bought me a really neat leather first-baseman's glove and took me for tryouts for the Schick Midget-Midget Baseball team.  About a week later I was picked as the first-baseman for the midget-midget team in the Lancaster County Midget-Midget Baseball League.  Played at all levels, including Legion, until I finally realized I was never going to be a professional baseball player.  So...I began to live my baseball dream in another way...as a coach.  I coached both of my son's teams though all the same levels that I had played and my oldest was good enough to obtain a full scholarship to pitch for Div I Villanova University.  Was one of the best arms in Div I. college ball until one day he tore something in his pitching elbow and there went his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.  With it also went my dream.  But hey, that's life.  Throughout both of my sons' baseball careers I coached little league baseball.  Just about everyone of the teams I coached won, or came close to winning, their league championships.  A few of the teams I coached played in the prestigious Lancaster New Era Baseball Tournament which Lancaster Newspapers sponsored for boys in the Midget-Midget, Jr. Midget and Midget categories.  All my teams did well, but the best team I ever had was the team that my youngest son played on in 1991.  That year my Midget team won the Lancaster New Era Tournament as the best team in Lancaster County.  We all received a jacket and a trip to see the Phillies play in Philadelphia.  But...those years are long gone.  I haven't even tried to throw a baseball for years.  But, last night brought my baseball dream back into focus when a young man by the name of Travis Jankowski came to bat for the Texas Rangers in the World Series.  Travis is the fourth Lancaster County native to play in the World Series, following the footsteps of Don Wert, Bruce Sutter, and Tommy Herr.  Travis played his college ball for Stony Brook where he became an All-American for the Sea Wolves and was in the College World Series.  Baseball has been his life's dream and how better to live your dream than playing in the World Series?  Doesn't every player who ever picked up a baseball glove when they were a young boy want to be in the World Series?  I DID!  And, I'm sure both my sons felt the same way, but none of us had the skills and luck to make it to the Bigs and play in the World Series.    I'm sure it was Travis' dream!  His only problem was that the guy playing in front of him in the outfield was an All-Star known as Adolis Garcia!  But...Garcia was injured and Travis was called on to fill in for the superstar and All-Star right-fielder.  Hey...the Ranger fans didn't know it at the time that it was Garcia's last Series game, due to his injuries.  Yet...therein lies the beauty of this Texas squad.  One man goes out, and another steps up!  "To be able to do it in a World Series is something special, but the job is not done yet," said Jankowski, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs scored in his first-career World Series start.  Catcher Jonah Him said, "We had no doubt about Jenko today and he's proved that he's a true gamer and he's going to take his knocks and hit the ball hard and put together good at-bats."  "He jumped right in the lineup and we knew what to expect."  Travis is playing his heart out and will not disappoint having been given this chance to play in the World Series.

                                                          Travis scoring a run for the Rangers

Not only is he doing a great job at the plate, he also chased down a fly ball that two other teammates tried to catch, but both missed, leading to Travis sliding under both of them for the catch.  You just had to see it to believe it!!  He's a solid, smart player, both offensively and defensively.  And...boy is he fun to watch play!  Yeah...the team is going miss Garcia, but they couldn't have found a better replacement.  I'm a Phillies Fan...but, since I can't watch them any longer this year, I have become a Jankowski...or I mean a Rangers fan!  Please, Coach...Don't take him out of the lineup...he's the only Lancaster player that I have to watch anymore this year!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.