Above is my picture from my second year in baseball: 1986. I was on the AAA A's and was looking forward to another season of baseball. Now that the rookie year was over and I had more of an idea what I was doing, I figured it would be even better. And how could it go worse than 0-20 the previous year? Well things certainly went better this year and I had no idea how it would change my life.There are definitely a few highlights from this season. The first one that comes to mind is my first and only walkoff hit ever! Unfortunately, I didn't even realize it at the time. I didn't know that if you're the home team and you take the lead in the bottom of the last inning that the game ended instantly. I know I hit a single although that's all I remember. When I got to first I remember my team being really excited and yelling for me to come in the dugout. Of course there was lots of celebrating when I got there. I actually appreciate it more know that I realize what had happened. It turns out this was the only walkoff hit I ever hit playing baseball.
The second thing I can recall from this season was my first homerun! If I remember correctly, I tended to swing late at pitches and therefore would frequently hit to the right field side of the field. Well, in this at bat, I did just that, hitting right over first base and down the line all the way to the fence against another field. I just ran and ran and before I knew it, I was scoring. In some ways I feel like there should be an asterisk next to this HR however. The other team only had 8 players. They decided to go ahead and play anyway though. They only had 2 outfielders and they were both towards center field, so it took them a long time to get to my hit. Nonetheless, in the record books, it is a homerun! Therefore, I claim it!
The last memory I have from this season is another pretty exciting one. I think we finished 12-8 this year, which was good enough to put is into a tie for 3rd at the end of the season. In these days, only the top 3 teams in the division got trophies and if two teams tied, there was a playoff. So, I participated in my first playoff game, and man was it exciting. I had a much better understanding of the game by this point and knew how cool and nerve-wracking it would be. When it was all said and done, I remember running in from center field when the last pitch was made and we had won! We were getting our trophies and the other team (the Mariners, I think) did not. While I felt a little bad for them (I remember some crying), I also realized that there had to be a winner and a loser. That was quite a memory.
It turns out that this season was life-changing; not because of what happened on the field, but that I was on the team I was. It turns out it was a family run operation. The manager was a brother and son of the other two coaches, and they had two kids on the team. It also just so happens that the sister of one of those teammates of mine was a girl named Traci. That's right, the same Traci that I have now been married to for over 10 1/2 years! There were no sparks at all during the season. After all, I was in 4th grade and she was in 2nd, but you just can't question God plans, especially when don't know what they are. It was a good thing I got to know the coaches and their kids. I had no idea how important that would be, and that my parents and sister got to know them too.
So in summary, I had my first walkoff hit, first homerun, first playoff game (and postseason victory) and first trophy. And then I met the girl/woman of my dreams! Now you know one of the reasons why baseball is such a big part of my life. And now that our oldest daughter is in her rookie year of softball, I get to experience it all in a different way. (I just don't like thinking that she could meet the boy she is going to marry in two years. Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?!
