Bottom of the seventh. We only played 7 innings not the professional 9. Two out, the count was three balls and two strikes. Two men on at first and second. I'm at bat.
Note – right Field is always a mystery, no one ever knows who's going to play that position until the coach announces right before the game. I played right field once, against Tascosa. First inning, on their field. High fly ball… well that's another story.
Anyway, we had played Monterey in a practice game earlier in the season on their field, we had a big lead then let the game slowly and painfully get away from us. I can remember getting on the bus for the ride home. "You Prima-donna's", that was coach's favorite saying. He walked up and down the bus isle saying "You Prima-donna's". So, it was a very long quiet ride back to PD. Coach had lost to the Plainsmen again.
By the way, do you remember the Monterey showers. Large portions of the school had recently been rebuilt, so a lot of it was new. I can remember walking into the new showers like it was yesterday. I guess the architect wanted to make a statement… but you walked into the showers and it was a circular affair. Four or five guys stood around, in a circle, with a singular water pipe branching shower heads there in the middle. I'm sure it was efficient, because the plumber didn't have a lot of walls to plumb through, but can you imagine us, standing in front of one another. Showers were usually individual stall affairs, or perhaps in a line against a wall, but rarely did we see and watch one another. Even for 1970, that was kinda spooky.
There we were standing in the showers... well that's another story.
Back to the game. I remember it was a little windy, blowing out to left field.
Randy T had made one of his classic un-orthodox scoops at 3rd base during that game. I had followed Randy's career and over time he evolved into a fine third baseman. I always thought he was gutsy, he persevered and succeeded.
Kevin C had recently begun to "Swat the Ball", it was a totally new technique to me, and very successful for him. We were well into the season at this point, so I didn't want to change my swing, but vowed if I played summer Y ball, I'd incorporate his new bat swing into mine.
John T – we called him Johnny Green Teeth. Invariably John would always catch the ball on a running dive, plowing his chest and sometimes his teeth into the grass. Regardless of whether the ball was hit 3 feet or 30 feet in front of him, John would run, dive, slide in the grass and pop up with the ball.
Randy D – Mr No Arm. Have you ever seen Randy throw a baseball from 2nd base. It’s like he’s practicing his basketball jump shot on the diamond. He’s all wrist, forearm and maybe just a little elbow. No body leverage, no upper arm or shoulder action, mostly fingers and wrist. Actually this is ideal for a second baseman. Randy makes the stop and finesses’ it to Marty for the out.
Johnny M – Johnny High Rise. If you remember, Juan Marichal for the LA Dodgers, with the high leg kick towards the batter right before the pitch, well that’s Johnny. I think him and Charlie S would try to out do one another for leg height from the mound.
Johnny P – one of my life long buds. Johnny is Mr Baseball. He was (and maybe still is) a dynamo. For his physique he ran faster, hit stronger, threw farther and spit bigger than any guy his size. Of everyone on the team, I was constantly amazed by Johnny's ability.
Marty K – one of my best buddies, so I’ve got a lot on the guy, but I’ll try to be kind. Let’s see… for as long as I can remember, from 3rd grade Kids Inc. basketball to varsity PD, Marty always had a clothing problem. His pants just never fit quite right. Now remember, Marty played 1st base, so he was kind of our representative in front of the opposing team, always standing just outside their dugout. We used to love to watch Marty stretch out big to make a good play at first, getting the batter out, and then immediately pop up, face the opposing team and do this Elvis move to straighten out his pants. We never asked him how necessary all that readjustment was, we just figured it was his way of being macho in front of those other guys.
Back to the game, again…
Now, for those of you not familiar with my batting style- even though I was a fairly big guy, I didn't hit home runs. In fact I never hit home runs. I prided myself in base hits. I would try to hit the ball right back at the pitcher, between Short and Second for a base hit. I strove for batting average and not the long ball. If I remember right, I was hitting 5th that day. Kevin hit 4th and was on first base. I forget who was on second, probably Johnny P who was usually 3rd batter in the line up. Everyone knows that the fifth hitter is pretty much the last of your batting strength. There's not that much hitting power left in the line up, so the Plains guys were tasting blood. Being behind 2 runs in the 7th, two out, with the count 3 and 2 means most of the time it's pretty much over. So there I was. I looked over at coach. He was a man of averages, so I figured he had pretty much chalked it up, and the phrase "Prima-donna" began flitting in my head.
I got back into the batters box, my left toe pointing to the left rear corner of home plate, right foot firmly entrenched as always, determined to at least get a hit. I remember the pitch. I absolutely remember my swing. Left foot forward, my body twisted, right before contact there was a split second of total silence, just like in the movies. My hands vibrated, the ball jumped off the bat. I thought to myself, great, I just grounded it back to the pitcher, so I began running as fast as I could, in an effort to beat his throw to first for the out.
Then I looked up. The ball was uncharacteristically going high to left field. Kevin and Johnny were jumping for joy, they had the visual angle and could tell it was out of there. I thought that was odd of them until I saw for myself. I watched as the ball went high over the left field fence. My first high school home run. Can you imagine, a guy my size, playing varsity for quite a while, not hitting a home run. I was bewildered and pleased all at once, thinking for the first time… so this is how it feels to hit a home run.
In my selfish absorption, the big picture had completely escaped me, until I rounded third and headed home. Up ahead was cheering teammates to be sure, we had won the game, Yeaaaa! But what's this, Coach McElduff? Coach seldom if ever congratulated you publicly. He mostly dealt out compliments behind the scenes, but there he was. The closer I got to home plate the more astonished I was. There was coach, with the happiest face and broadest smile I had ever seen on him. He grabbed me by the shoulders gave me a hug and said "thanks, you've just conquered one of my dragons".
The home run, the win, the setting in which it took place, coach's reaction to his first win against Monterey… this is one of my favorite high school memories.
PS - in the photo above, I'm holding the ball that I hit. I carried it around in the trunk of my '70 Chevelle for years.
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