Elmwood Terrace Blog

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My first career choice did not work out, nor my second for that matter. Watching the kids from Chicago Jackie Robinson West play in the Little League World Series brought back many great memories of my days when I was their age. Yes that was my first career choice. I had one major problem…I couldn’t hit a curve ball? But boy did I,  and do I love the game.

By my parent’s estimate I spent more than half of my waking hours playing it in the summer. It was easy to get a pick up game going at the school’s sand lot. We could always round up 10 or more kids to meet and pick sides on any given day. Funny thing is I cannot recall how we rounded everybody up? No Facebook, no text messaging no snapchat. I don’t recall using the landline either? We just seemed to gravitate to the diamond. And if not the diamond there was our back yard where first base was the electrical conduit on our house and third base was a cover to the sewer. If you were short of players you would utilize a “ghost man” after getting a hit so you could hit and advance the imaginary runner. Of course one had to scale the game down a bit as mom and or the neighbors tired of the broken window from the hardball. Not to worry there was tennis ball and of course wiffle ball. There was also a game for three called “Hot Box”. This was a simulation of a base runner being caught between bases and the fielders attempting to tag him out as they closed the gap and he ran back and forth. If you were limited to only two players perhaps you would just play catch or long toss…and if you are by yourself well no problem you could always throw a tennis ball off the side of the house at such an angle that you would have to dive for it just like the great outfielders of the day.

Wow it seems like a great time to be a kid back then, right? You know if your playing baseball anytime is a great time to be a kid! We take folks in our care here to the ballpark and you can see the kid in each and every one. Doesn’t take much really…something about the sun, the green grass, the crack of the bat the smell of the hot dogs. Not sure of anything more unifying than good childhood memories.

That ghost man has now advanced to third as you knocked one up the middle! Most folks can still tell you where they were when their favorite team won the World Series. Unless of course you are from the North Side of Chicago. Even so it still brings out a smile….

Kevin Kirkpatrick is Director of Community Relations in the Western Chicago Suburbs