Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

PLAY BALL

Baseball has been a big part of my life and my family’s, as I’ve mentioned before. I first started playing baseball when I was 5 years old and wanted to be just like Brooks Robinson, so I played third base and always wanted to be number 5. One of my earliest memories of playing baseball was fielding a ground ball hit to me at third and throwing to first base, only to have the first basemen not covering the bag. The ball actually landed right on first base and bounced away, but I guess it was too much to ask of a 5/6 year old to cover the bag.

This was when I played for a church in a CYO league (Catholic Youth Organization), which was not all that competitive. But it did provide me with an opportunity to play and I loved it. When I was about 8 years old, still playing in this league, our team needed a catcher and no one wanted to do it so I volunteered. I soon realized what an awesome responsibility it was to be the catcher and really enjoyed it. As I got a little older I branched out into other REC leagues and played for Perry Hall. There were better players in this league and opportunities to play in travel leagues.

When I was about 12 or 13 years old, my dad found out about a real nice indoor batting cage complex (Grand Slam USA) and we started going there. They had a drawing for 3 months of free hitting and little did they know that the winner was going to spend everyday of those 3 months in their cages soaking it up. Yes that little batting cage freak was me! During those 3 months, not only did I develop better timing, a better eye for the strike zone and patience, but I also taught myself how to switch hit. A natural righty, I was now able to hit from both sides of the plate.

While practicing there, many former and budding professional baseball players came there to hone their skills as well. One of those players was Brian Jordan who is from Baltimore. I recall him being there, among some other players, but I was always more focused on my own hitting then anyone else’s. My father just recently related this story to me, but apparently one of the times I was hogging up the cage working on my swing, Brian Jordan was standing there watching. He and my father were talking and he told my father that I had all the natural talent to become a Major League hitter; I just needed to refine my skill. Now why my father didn’t relate that to me at the time, I have no idea! That was my dream at the time to become a Major League baseball player, as I’m sure that dream is shared by most boys. But to actually have a Major League prospect relate that to you and to see how he has become a lifetime .287 hitter over his 12 plus years of professional baseball is really inspiring.

Obviously the dream of becoming a Major League player did not come true and now I spend all day on the computer working on the network or on various databases. Why didn’t the dream come true then? Anyone who has played in a REC league or gone out for a high school team knows there is an element of politics involved here. You know the coach’s son is always going to get special treatment or those players that especially butter up the coach. I never did that and had the misfortune of going to Perry Hall High School, where there were approximately 200 kids going out for the teams each year. I never made my high school team and the travel league I was playing in at the time was coached by the assistant coach of the Varsity team. He knew very little about baseball and really soured me on playing altogether by his obvious political/family bias in the starting lineup.

So I’ve lain dormant for the last 10 years, playing in the occasional softball league, which anyone who has a true love of baseball knows it just not comparable to hardball at all. Until I happened upon the MARYLAND AMATEUR BASEBALL ASSOCIATION and inquired about the possibilities of playing, I was uncertain if I would ever get to play again. They had a league workout this past Saturday for potential players and a subsequent draft. I attended the workout, where some of the guys were comparing me to Javy Lopez (another awesome compliment), and just found out last night that I have been drafted by the Dundalk Mariners. I’m still uncertain how things will play out with this league and this team. But for the time being I’m just excited I’ll get to PLAY BALL again!

Posted by price at April 16, 2004 12:17 PM