My First Home Runs!

Let me start this out by saying: I am a terrible baseball/softball player. I never played little league as a child (not even tee-ball). When I was in 7th grade, I decided to try out for the baseball team. I was the first one cut.

When I was a junior in high school, I didn't have a spring sport to play so I asked the baseball coach if I should play. He asked if I had ever played before. I said "no". He said it wasn't a good thing to try and play this late in the game. I took up tennis. The baseball team won the state championship.

Our friend Jim is an all-star softball player. He let us play on his team a while back. I started out at 2nd base, but eventually moved to pitcher. I liked pitcher because all I had to do was throw the ball straight (like skee ball at Chuck E .Cheese). I didn't have to do any special defensive fielding, so I liked it.

After one season, Jim abandoned us to play with real players (and I can't say I don't blame him). The rest of us castoffs formed our own team called "Jim's Orphans" and we would lose about 80% of our games for the next three seasons.

For three years, I was lucky to hit the ball out of the infield and get a single. I had never even hit a double until this spring. I actually got two triples in the summer league. Well the other night, I hit a good shot right to center field. The guy misplayed the ball and I was booking it around and the third base coach waived me in. I beat the tag by a nano second and had my first "inside the park" home run! FINALLY!

Well, two at-bats later, I walked up to the plate and the pitch looked a little inside. I swung anyway (because the poor pitcher had walked like 5 people already). I knew I hit it good because I was booking it around 1st base. I look up and the ball went over the fence. I couldn't believe it.

I would have told you that I would have dunked a basketball before I ever hit a softball over the fence. The swing felt normal, I just got a piece of it. What a glorious feeling. Not one, but two home runs in the same game!

It's about time, it only took me 30 years :)