A magical delivery came to my door this week, brightening these cold, dark days with the promise of spring:
Our work softball league requires guys to use wooden bats, and although I had a great season with our team’s bats last year, I wanted one that was a tiny bit heavier. Plus this one has my name and an American flag on it. I want to carry it around everywhere I go:
April can’t get here soon enough.
This is the fourth bat I’ve owned during my time on this great planet. Before this, the last time I got one I believe was way back at age 14.
I can’t off the top of my head remember a picture from the very beginning, but this one from when I was 15 is pretty close:
Today that bat can be found in the trunk of my car, because who knows when you’ll end up at the batting cages?
Top memory of this bat: hitting a home run in three consecutive games.
Top memory of the bat that came before this one: hitting a game-winning grand slam for my summer all-star team.
I was 12, and we were playing in a tournament down in Staunton, Va. Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, my coach sent me up to pinch hit. There were two outs, and with a full count the pitcher threw a curveball down and in. I golfed it over the right field fence — my first ever home run — giving us a one-run lead.
My teammates were pretty psyched:
You can see the bat in that first picture, next to the catcher (fun fact: I can still fit in the jersey). Better look at the bat in action here:
I’ll leave you with this, which I’ve posted before, but saw when looking up these videos and it’s just too excellent not to watch again: