Yesterday evening, I was out for a walk, and by chance ended up at Danny Green Field while a Little League game was being played on the minor league field. It was a nice night, so I decided to stay and watch the game. In the next to last inning, there was one out, a runner on second and third, and this little kid came up to bat. I thought back to my days playing baseball on that field. What would I be thinking? Well, it’s obvious what I’d be thinking: one out, two men on, my team down by four—time for a home run. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. I knew if that kid could make the play, he’d never forget that moment.

First pitch comes in, straight as an arrow—or, at least, as straight as you can make a 40 mph. “fastball” travel—right down the plate. Kid swings—

I’ll be damned if he didn’t put that ball over the fence.

And not over the right field sense—kid pulled it all the way around to left, and it didn’t just barely clear, it soared over that fence. The crowd cheered, his teammates cheered, waited at the plate for him to come back so they could give him high-fives and pats on the back.

That’s what baseball is all about, man.

And then later in the game, another guy hits another home run! I saw two home runs in one Little League game. I don’t think I ever saw that many homers in my entire time playing as a kid! I swear they made that fence lower and closer. No matter what, though, it was a great game to watch. I haven’t followed baseball in years, let alone played, but it was enough to remind me that I really need to get back into the sport. Looks like my dad and I will be throwing the ball around a few times this summer, just like when I was a kid. I loved the game back then. Winter was torture for me because there was snow on the ground and it was muddy and baseball season was right around the corner, teasing me, but it just wasn’t quite there yet. First day of spring, once the snow melted, you better believe I was out in the backyard, throwing and batting the ball around. I lived for baseball.

It was a lot of fun watching those kids play. I normally proclaim that I don’t like kids much, but I guess they’re okay, once they get old enough to play baseball.