Welcome Home
Quote appearing on print:
"The count is 3 and 2 and someone is going to have to make a play. I want it to be me.
The sport is called softball, but there is nothing soft about this ball. About players who play it.
About coaches who swear by it. About the unforgiving infield dirt or the lush grass in the outfield.
The batter’s box, the mound – all perfect cuts of a diamond that I don’t wear around my neck
or in my ears. This, the softball diamond, is not a reflection of riches, but rather, this diamond
enriches in many ways. The pop of the ball in leather and explosion off bat. In the raspberries
after a gutsy slide, having just stretched a single into a double. And always, in the unspoken
dialogue between batter and pitcher. Enrichment further comes with teammates, laughing
about comparisons of underhand to overhand pitching, a comparison I do not dignify with
argument. Two words: forty feet. Life on this diamond is about speed, sweat and infield dirt.
It’s about exceeding perceived limits of training, realizing precision, then making the big play
when it matters most. And then there is the count, which life will always present in various forms.
But today, I must make this count part of my history, one that will reflect the courage and
determination I have shown on the field and have injected into this game. I yearn for these days
under the sun, striding out of a coil and into perfect connection with a screaming ball. In the
end, win or lose, today and everyday I welcome 3 and 2. And because I am one who will
always confront the possibility of failure while expecting the opposite, I know my teammates,
my coaches, and our fans will always give me, a true ballplayer, what I have earned:
A warm Welcome Home."
* Buy 3 get 1 free! Offer Details
|
*For Schools, Club Sports, and Corporate awards and gifts, please call OSA directly at 800.297.4723 for quantity pricing and program information. Please inquire about our unique abilities to customize our products to fit your needs. (Schools, please ask a sales rep about our teacher and coach appreciation programs). |