For the Love of Baseball

 

Another grandson baseball season has come and gone and now I sit and wonder what to do with my evenings without them.  Sounds pathetic, doesn’t it?  But it isn’t because this is a grandmother just mourning the rapidly passing years of 3 grandsons approaching adulthood.  You see, I’m not sure how to maintain my love of baseball in the coming years without those grandson games.

My passion actually has a genetic element to it.  It goes back a couple of generations.  My grandfather, Harry Hallsted, was also a farm kid who grew up playing baseball on the farm, and then carried that passion forward into the Navy playing on his ship’s team which went on to become the 1911 Champions on the USS Franklin, Twin City League, their record being 48 wins, 9 losses. (Grandpa Hallsted is top row, far left.)

There was a tragic element to his story.  He married the love of his life.  When Marie Tullis was 7 months pregnant with their 7^th child she was watching the gang play from the front porch of their home.  Grandpa was batting balls to the older children when a foul tip hit Marie in the head.  The hospital was able to save the baby, but Marie died 3 days later.  Not sure he ever hit another ball.

Moving forward a generation my dad, Ted, and his brothers Harry, Bob and Dale were all baseball fans.  They played in different leagues.  Don’t know much about the brothers, but my earliest memories include playing around the fields as Dad pitched in church league games.  He was initially a huge Reds fan.  I clearly remember when we moved to Florida in 1957 how he would lie on their bed, his ear pressed to the radio, listening to the WLW broadcast of games as best he could…. there was a lot of static!  When the Rays came along, he did share his passion between the two teams, but anytime he came to Cincinnati for a visit and it was in season, we were at games. In 1970 he and I even went to the Reds – Orioles World Series game in Baltimore.  Reds lost, but it was a great time for the two of us!!!

Uncle Bob was one of the best.  When he was 100 years old, he wrote the Reds telling them he was their longest surviving fan, that he wanted to come to Cincinnati for a game, be recognized as such and requested multiple recognition items, ie free hotel stay, free admission to the game, transportation to and from the game, etc.  As it turned out, he fell getting out of the car, broke his hip and spent 3 months in Ohio recovering/rehab and never saw the game, obviously.

My brother, Jim, was a decent catcher.  I have fond memories of watching him catch, Dad pitch, and Mom play 2^nd base in our Pinellas Park, Florida church league.

So, back to the grandsons…. Alex is now 19 and moved away from baseball to working as an IT nerd.  At one time he almost always played center field.  He didn’t like it at first, he wanted to be anywhere in the infield, but when he realized he was there because he had the strongest arm of anyone on the team, he excelled. 

 

Eli is an excellent 1^st baseman and one hell of a hitter.  Put a fence out there in the field and his goal is to hit over it…and he does, quite often. 

Teddy plays left-handed catcher, pitcher and first baseman and is also a very strong hitter.  I would love to see him college recruited someday. 

As for me, I watch from the sidelines, usually along the first base line.  I’m not a screamer or go crazy when they are on the field, but my cup runeth over with joy watching them.  This week I even went to Eli’s last tournament game when no one else in the family went.  Eli had mandatory football practice.  I texted the family the results per inning and was greatly disappointed when his team lost. 

It meant no more games for this year.

PS – I now consider myself an OFFICIAL baseball grandma…my car got dinged by a foul ball earlier in the season!!!