I feeel good
By Tom Grout
May 8, 2008
It’s always nice to report some “feel good” stories especially when the news is usually bad and the sports pages are no different than anything else. I have three such stories today and I will give you the Readers Digest version, in other words the short version.
In a southern Minnesota high school there was a senior girl who was a good softball player. With school budgets getting tight and a lack of numbers in the program the softball team was no more. The boys baseball coach approached this girl and invited her to come out for the baseball team with the players being all for it. She has fit right in with the team and plays shortstop off an on and is hitting over .500. We all know it’s not always easy for the boys to accept a girl in their sport or team but this team has accepted her as just one of the guys.
On this same high school baseball team there is a boy who is nearly deaf. Being deaf in any team sport can be a very challenging thing but this kid is playing first base and the outfield and adapting quite well.
Another story comes out of college softball. This senior girl hits a three run home run that wins the game for her team. As she is rounding first on her home run trot, she misses first base and has to go back and touch it and in so doing she injures her knee and falls to the ground. She is told that her teammates can’t help her around the bases and if she leaves the game for a pinch runner the home run becomes a single and the team loses the run.
Just as they are trying to figure out what the do, the opposing first baseman and shortstop go and pick up the girl and carry her around the bases dropping her down close enough to the remaining bases so she could touch them. The umpire said there was no rule saying that this act was not legal so the home run counted and they won the game. It wasn’t just an ordinary game though; it was a play off game so the team on the field was now done for the season. What an act of sportsmanship.
Now as Paul Harvey would say, now for the rest of the story. The girl who hit the home run had been playing softball since she was little as she climbed her way up through the little leagues and through high school. She played softball throughout her college days and was no in her last year as a senior. Appearing in all those games she had never hit a home run until this moment. The first baseman who helped her around the bases not knowing it was the girls first home run, said simply “She hit the ball over the fence. She deserved to make it count.”
The next story involves my neighbor kid back home in Elbow Lake. Adam Johnson grew up right across the street from us and played with my kids and all the other neighbor kids. He became a very good three sport athlete at West Central High School. He is now a senior at St. Johns University and one the starting pitchers on St. Johns baseball team.
About a month ago I get a phone call and it’s Adam and he is pretty excited. He said a former alumnus of St. Johns came to visit baseball practice one day and he mentioned that he knew a former major league pitcher. After a couple of phone calls this pitcher was now on the other end of this guy’s cell phone. They handed the phone over to Adam and the guy on the other end of the line was Tommy John. John, most noted for the now famous arm surgery named after him, is a pitcher who some think should be in the Hall of Fame with over 280 career major league wins.
Adam said they talked for about a half an hour mostly about pitching. Both Adam and John throw left handed so they had some things in common. They talked a lot about throwing a change up, how to throw it, how to grip it, and when to throw it. Adam got a little education from John and not only that but Adam said John gave him his phone number and his e-mail address and said to contact him at any time.
Adam was pretty excited when he told me about this event and he just had to share it with somebody he knew would appreciate it and I was honored that I was who he thought of. Since I had seen John pitch on many occasions I was able to tell Adam a little bit about the guy who kindly took the time and visit with a young pitcher.
Tom --
Another great column. You have a gift for this. I can't wait to see what effect this column has on the larger world. Your last column was about Twins hitters being more aggressive, and voila! 16 hits and 13 runs. Way to go Tom. Keep it up.
Thanks TDog I do all I can to make this world a better place.
Nice one, Tom! When I was in high school at EL-W in the mid-80's, we had a girl on our baseball team, too. Back in those days, EL-W and Barrett shared football and baseball. Barrett would come to EL to play football, and EL-W would go to Barrett to play baseball. There was no girl's softball back then.
Michelle Nelson didn't want to run track, but she wanted something to do in the spring other than just go home. She asked coach Dennis Hitzman if she could join the team, and of course he said yes! The rest of us didn't mind a bit. We liked having her on the team. She was friendly and was a good athlete. She kept book almost every game. Our score book had the best handwriting in it of any team in the state, I bet!
Dad~Great Blog!!
I'm so glad you wrote about the college softball player who was carried around the bases to make her homerun count! I love that story! Makes you ask yourself...Would I have done the same??
It reminds me of the time we went to see a Fargo Moorhead Redhawks game. We had to get there early (to see batting practice of course). Anyways we got caught up watching the Special Olympics going on on the track nextdoor. There were 4 or 5 guys getting ready to race. The whistle blew and they took off..except for one who tripped over his feet and fell down. One of the runners turned around and saw his fellow competitor on the ground, turned around, helped him up and held his hand the remainder of the race and crossed the finish line together. It was such a touching moment that I have never forgotten. Again..it makes you ask yourself...Would I have done the same?
Finally, we know the true father of Beavis.
Nice stories. Thank you!
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