The Favorites Box post from last week featuring Mike Pagliarulo's 1985 Topps rookie card really got the Little League nostalgia going for me—so much so that I was motivated to go into the garage to look for something that I'd been meaning to look for since last year.
I had a good idea where it was, and thankfully, after just a couple of minutes, I located it and brought it inside. Here it is:
You're looking at a baseball trophy from my Little League days. It was dusty and dirty, and the metal was pitted here and there, but a little bit of elbow grease took care of most of it. I really should have taken better care of this little guy over the years, but that's fine. There's no way it's going back in the garage now, especially because it's the only trophy I still have from those days.
What's important is that I still have quite a few memories and stories from those golden days, like turning an unassisted triple play. Or the example of what my first baseball glove looked like.
I also have a physical, tangible memento in one of the game balls that I received for a job well done out there on the field. And now there's this trophy. I've got to find a good place to store it—perhaps on a shelf in the closet of my home office, which has partially become a card closet.
While I figure that out, there's one more memento I can share. Have a look at this:
There's so much 1980s goodness in this photo. It's the scruffy grass and chewed-up dirt around home plate. The small, simple chain-link backstop. The kid watching from behind that backstop wearing jean shorts and tube socks. The parents chilling out on folding lawn chairs they brought from home. The yellow school buses in the background. It's all glorious.
As for the little guy wearing #24 for the Cardinals and standing at home plate? That's me. (We're playing the Orioles there. Check out the orange jersey the catcher is wearing.) It was my very first year of Little League, so I'm probably around 6 or 7 years old in the photo. I'm sure of that because the following year we all started wearing baseball pants and stirrup socks.
If my dad were looking over my shoulder as I typed all this, he'd be proudly insisting that I tell you how I hit a triple in my very first Little League at-bat. Or that a few years later, I pitched an inning in our Little League all-star game and struck out the side. (Those are his go-to moves whenever the topic of baseball comes up.) Dads are great for bringing back those experiences. They were on the sidelines, observing things from their adult perspective, while we were in there, playing and having fun.
And if you're a fellow blogger, you know that blogs are also good for recording and preserving these kinds of things. I've done a bit of that over the years here on the Nine Pockets blog, to the extent that I added a Personal Nostalgia tab to the navigation bar at the top.
Ultimately, I'm grateful for the Little League mementos I have—as few as they may be—and for all the vivid experiences they help to bring back.
How about you readers? If you played any sports when you were a kid, do you have any stories, photos, or objects from that time?
Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!
I played baseball from t-ball all the way up to senior majors (13 year old all-stars). Although I do have a few single game moments, my most cherished memory of that era was Mama Fuji being team mom for a few of my teams. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but in hindsight it brings a huge smile to my face knowing that she was my biggest fan.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Baseball moms are awesome!
DeleteThis post reminds me of winning a 1on1 basketball tournament in 8th grade. I was a Center on the basketball team at the time. The next year I ended up being the shortest and slowest on the team. That was my last year of basketball. I think I had the trophy until about three years ago when I did some cleanout. Enjoy the time all!
ReplyDeleteWow, did every other basketball player in the area have a huge growth spurt between 8th and 9th grade? That's harsh. Did you switch to any other sports at that point?
DeleteI played youth baseball for three years. It was a low-key version of Little League (I know some people involved, like my dad, thought Little League was too serious -- and this was in the '70s!). My brother and I played for the Pirates. Our team was middle-of-the-pack. I did fairly well, even pitched in a game or two. Then I turned 13 and moved up to the next level and was completely overmatched.
ReplyDeleteI still have my glove from that time, I've written about it before. And there's a team photo of me with it on.
I'd guess that a lot of kids wanted to wear that Pirates jersey in the 1970s! I've got to find that post on your blog about your glove.
DeleteI had a neighbor briefly during my mid-teens who, even though we weren't friends per se, did invite me into his room on at least one occasion. I knew that he played baseball but had no idea he would've had a whole shelf full of trophies. And not just regular dinky trophies, these were massive; the kind you only got if you, or your team, did something of note. I thought having those out on display was pretty lame at the time but would later realize that he was just proud of his accomplishments. Had I anything to display like that, I'm sure that I would've too.
ReplyDeleteI only ever played in an organized basketball league for one year when I was around 10. I want to say that my team finished fourth in a twelve-team league. At the end of the season, everyone got a generic little participation trophy, which, even at the time, I thought was dumb (and still do). I don't think that I kept that thing around for more than a year before tossing it.
I'm going to send you a participation trophy for your comment now.
DeleteJokes aside, I definitely hear you.