Monday, April 2nd, 2007...9:43 am
Opening Day
Me (in the A’s uniform) stealing home
“In baseball, you don’t know nothing.” – Yogi Berra
When I was seven years old, I received my first baseball glove. I remember going to my backyard, slipping it onto my RIGHT hand, and wondering how I was supposed to throw a ball with it.
Three years later, I would hit a game-winning grand slam during recess and be carried off the field on my classmates’ shoulders, unsure of what I had done. I remember turning to my friend and asking, “What’s a grand slam?”
Baseball didn’t start out in my blood. My dad and I attended River Plate games while living in Buenos Aires. Playing “catch” was not something we did in Argentina. But in 1988, while living in LA, the Dodgers started to play what would turn out to be the greatest season ever for an inaugural fan and I started to pay attention. I collected Topps baseball cards with my friends (my first was a Jose Canseco rookie card my friend Scotty tried to screw me out of), went to my first batting cage, and signed up for Little League.
I sucked during my first season. I managed two hits the entire spring but since I was small, I walked half the time I came to the plate thanks to my miniscule strike zone. I was always really fast so I learned to steal bases and my coach nicknamed me Charlie Hustle despite my ignorance of Pete Rose or his nomenclature.
Over the offseason, I resolved to improve myself and spent the entire winter smacking tiny pebbles from my parents’ new garden into my neighbors’ backyards, convinced that if I could train myself to hit a small rock, I could then hit a baseball 10 times its size. It worked. The next year I batted .500 and made the all-star team.
I also learned how to be a catcher and quickly fell in love with the number 2 position on the diamond. As the only player to face the same way as your opponent, the role of a catcher came easily to me and I started to understand more facets of the game.
By the time I was done with Little League and all the glory it brought me – being ranked as the number one player my final year, going to the championship twice, winning the league’s Sportsmanship Award – baseball had become a part of me that would last forever. The sights and sounds of the ballpark, the dynamics of game strategy, the statistics borne out of every pitch – this was the essence of my happiness.
I realize that telling people about my Little League success may sound trivial and to those who never played the game, a bit sad. But baseball did more for me than bring me frivolous stardom. At a time when I was the smallest kid in school, when I suffered from severe acne, crippling shyness, and most girls either laughed at me or thought of me as a brother, baseball gave me confidence and a belief in myself that most teenagers could only dream of.
On the field, I was accepted and couldn’t get teased by the older kids. On the field, I could smack long doubles and steal home without feeling like an ugly outcast. On the field, I believed in myself and wasn’t scared of making eye contact. It might sound melodramatic, but baseball, in part, made me who I am today.
Opening Day, today and every spring, marks for me when everything is possible.
26 Comments
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 am
I might actually have a tear in my eye. Of course, you will probably mock me for that, and in that case it’s just allergies.
Great post.
Thanks, Carrie.
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:57 am
Ah, the days before HGH was anything other than someone’s initials.
So true. And sad.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:19 am
I’m pretty sure that this week is the only thing that I’ve been looking forward to for the past few months. I am so damn excited.
I wish I felt better after the Dodgers dropped the season opener with a grand total of 2 hits. Already last in the league in batting average.< .b>
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:29 am
Boca Juniors. Martin Palermo. End of story.
You hurt me, Twoste. He’s a River killer.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:24 pm
And who you are today is a damn swell guy. Good on ya.
Thanks, K, I love the unironic use of “swell”.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:01 pm
When I was at my rec softball playing prime (circa 10th grade), I was an elite first baseman and clean up batter. I followed the Orioles religiously and knew all the stats on my favorite player (Chris Hoiles #23). I miss the days sitting at home with my dad watching the game. Some of the fondest memories I have of spending time with him, actually. He’d answer all my questions, tell me stories about “the old days”… Never too busy. Never too tired.
Now, I throw out my shoulder whenever I try to swing a bat, and my dad can’t be bothered to tell me the time, let alone the score. We all grow up, I suppose.
I totally remember Chris Hoiles, I thought he was a good ballplayer.
That was very sad and poignant.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pm
That was a beautiful post big bro!
I, too, miss the good ole days - when I could go “watch your games,” a.k.a - check out the cute boys. I still have a thing for baseball players… must be the pants!
And who knows… the Dodgers may make us proud this season. GO BLUE!!!
You also only came to my soccer games to look at cute boys. Remember Greg?
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:48 pm
That’s somehow very sweet.
Although I know next to nothing about baseball and have never been to a game, all these opening day posts makes me *almost* want to go to a game.
I iron-clad guarantee you go to a game this season.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I’m too busy trying to figure out how the auto-draft gave me no solid bats. Sick pitchers, but I need some bats.
Go Sox!
I haven’t even looked at my fantasy teams yet.
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I wish it had been like that for me when I danced. Girls suck, man.
I don’t know much about baseball but my grandparents love to take me to watch local teams play in SLC for some reason. I think basketball is more my sport.
I officially hate pro basketball now. For so many reasons, but I can’t imagine ever feeling like that about baseball. Or dancing.
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
[…] week competition pairing baseball greats with Hollywood celebs. COPS: Baseball ? BJ Upton, …Opening Day I was always really fast so I learned to steal bases and my coach nicknamed me Charlie Hustle […]
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
This almost makes up for the fact that you once worked as an umpire.
Almost.
Aw hell. Yeah, we’re square. Nice work.
- Hammer (fellow former catcher and double-prone leadoff hitter)
Awesome, I thought we would have a rift forever.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:32 am
And that is the magic that sport should be about. Fan-bloody-tastic.
I miss baseball so much living in Australia…
But you have cricket to “entertain” you.
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:21 am
Truly great post!
-The worst pitcher little league ever saw.
I tried pitching, but I either struck batters out or hit them.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
Wait, you’re THE Arjewtino? Wow!
You’re so cute.
Thanks. I thought about writing about that story but even I’M not that vain. At least not on the internets.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:36 pm
You pretty much said at all. I had a pretty similar experience growing up. The only difference might be that spring also brings on a little twinge of sadness knowing that I don’t get to play anymore.
You’re right, that sadness is palpable every spring. I try to replace it with softball but it never quite does the job, does it?
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Um, hello?
Yes…?
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:01 pm
See how important sport is to society? and helping immigrants feel a part of their new country? You should read Ellis Island to Ebbets Field. now, if everyone else/universities realized the importance of sport, then maybe I could get a job….
April 4th, 2007 at 8:40 am
GO FUCKING SOX!
April 4th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Yankees suck.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Arguably, the real River killer is Real Madrid!
oh, snap.
April 4th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Don’t worry . . . I will make sure that Jo gets to a game this season. I love going to games, but don’t make it enough of a priority. I went to a Phillies v. Dodgers game a few years ago and sat 5 rows back from home plate. It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons of my life.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Being one of the only girls to play little league baseball turned me into the person I am today. (Although, come to think of it, maybe that’s more of a curse than a blessing.)
I still have my trophies. My dad asked me about them the other day.
April 4th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
[…] his blog, Arjewtino talked baseball. Unexpectedly, my comment veered from my former love of the sport, to the love of my father. It […]
July 31st, 2007 at 9:45 am
[…] Number of visits: 56,119 Number of pages viewed: 98,173 My favorite blog post to write (tie): Opening Day and How to Eat for Free in DC Most read blog post (thanks to Wonkette): The Virginia DMV is […]
September 9th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
ahhhh un compatriota !! mi viejo era de River, espero que ademas de baseball hayas hecho algunos “picaditos” con amigos. Un saludo muy grande a un compatriota que escribe buenos posts, de parte de una Bahiense que extrania Argentina.
SIL
Leave a Reply