In the 2000 American film drama, “Finding Forrester”, the “recluse writer” character of William Forrester played by Sean Connery encourages the “high school aged prodigy” character of Jamal Wallace played by Rob Brown to find his “own voice” by typing some of Forrester’s own works and gradually make his own words come through. Sound advice I might add. Begin typing an idea already written and your mind takes it in your direction. Stephen King has also advocated such an exercise.
 
While my feelings for baseball run deeply through my very soul, I have not put to paper, or in this case bits and bytes these feelings for a long time. In conversation, of course, but getting back to this writing thing, well, I decided I needed to “find my voice” again by typing the words of others.
 
What follows in no particular order are some quotes, from players, announcers and people involved with the sport. Some are deep, some are funny and some just reflect the personal feelings of the individual.  
 

• “You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and, in the end, it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.”  ~ Jim Bouton.
• “Well, baseball has been my whole life. Nothing’s ever been as fun as baseball.” ~ Mickey Mantle
• "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~ Rodgers Hornsby
• “Baseball is Heaven’s gift to mortals.” ~ George Will
• There are only two seasons - winter and Baseball. ~ Bill Veck
• “In 1962 I was named Minor League Player of the Year. It was my second season in the bigs.” ~ Bob Uecker
• Legend has it one time someone quoted John 3:16 to Rickey Henderson. And he said, “I don’t wanna hear about John hittin’ .316, Rickey’s hittin’ .330.”
• “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.”  ~ Yogi Berra
• “You wait for a strike, then you knock the shit out of it.” ~ Stan Musial
• “Baseball was life, and I was good at it.” ~ The Sandlot
• “A hotdog at the ballpark is better than a steak at The Ritz.” ~ Humphrey Bogart
• “Batting Gloves? Sorry, I guess I was too busy hitting 573 home runs to buy a pair.” ~ Harmon Killebrew
• “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing your whole life.” ~ Mickey Mantle
• "I didn't get a lot of awards as a player. But they did have a Bob Uecker Day Off for me once in Philly."  ~ Bob Uecker
• “A knuckleball is just a curve ball that doesn’t give a damn.” ~ Jimmy Cannon
• “Hey dad...do you want to have a catch?” ~ Field of Dreams
• “He hit that like it was Marilyn Monroe.” ~ Vin Scully, who made this home run call while broadcasting for the Dodgers in 1957. He was suspended for it.
• “I played my best every day. You never know when someone may be seeing you play for the first time.” ~ Joe DiMaggio
• “I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn’t get there as fast.” ~ Eddie Bane
• “I had only one superstition. I made sure I touched all the bases when I hit a home run.” ~ Babe Ruth
• “There’s two rules in baseball. The first is catch the ball. And the next rule is don’t mess with Joe West.” ~ Ken “Hawk” Harrelson 
• “A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’" ~ Ted Williams
• “Remember these two things: play hard and have fun.” ~ Tony Gwynn 
• "I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for three-thousand dollars. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn't have that kind of dough. But he eventually scraped it up." ~ Bob Uecker
• “The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in and day out, is the church of baseball.” ~ Bull Durham
• “Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, 'Sure, every time.'” ~ Mickey Mantle
• “I don’t make speeches. I just let my bat speak for me in the summertime.” ~ Honus Wagner
• “If I had just tried for those dinky singles, I could have batted around .600.” ~ Babe Ruth
• “Work? I never worked a day in my life. I always loved what I was doing, had a passion for it.” ~ Ernie Banks
• “Baseball is a ballet without music. A drama without words.” ~ Ernie Harwell
• “Why does everyone stand up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” when they’re already there?” ~ Larry Anderson
• “The trick is growing up without growing old.” ~ Casey Stengel
• “Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking, just have fun.” ~ The Sandlot
• “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.” ~ Yogi Berra
• “I love the game of baseball.” ~ Nomar Garciaparra
• “Baseball is like a church. Many attend, but few understand.” ~ Leo Durocher
• “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game. The American game.” ~ Walt Whitman
• “It ain't over till it's over.” ~ Yogi Berra
• “It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” ~ A League of Their Own
• “When Steve and I die, we are going to be buries 60 - feet 6 - inches apart.” ~ Tim McCarver who caught Steve Carlton

 
 
I could go on for hours, but you get the idea and I have warmed up. See you soon!
 
~ Coach Mike

Life without baseball sucks! I spent all winter looking forward to Spring and Baseball, counting down the days. Then the virus struck.

I am a Certified Personal Trainer and right now, I’m spending most of my time at home, as a good percentage of the population is doing, unable to train as the gyms are closed and facilities are under quarantine.  Been trying to stay positive and with that said, I’ve been watching old baseball games and interviews. Enjoying the ever-living daylights out of it, but…

With all this time on my hands my mind has wandered, my emotions have been all over the place and I noticed some events pushing me in an old direction.

• On April 1st, Ed Farmer the radio voice of the White Sox passed away. The urge to write about his death was overwhelming.
• David, a dear friend of mine and I are going to play in a Wood Bat 60 And Over Baseball league this year. He called to tell me he’s making his own bats. Man, I’d love to publicize this.
• A young man I coached years ago in baseball and a good friend of my son’s posted on Facebook his four favorite baseball players and challenged me to do the same, as well as challenge four friends to do the same. It took a while to come up with just four (I cheated and added a fifth).   
• All four friends responded with there four and we got into discussions on the lists.
• Saw on Facebook that Glenn Beckert passed away. The thought immediately came into my mind that many of the players which were part of my childhood were getting older and dying. Again, the urge to write about this.

It all added up to doing my “Comments” again!

So, here is the first post. Not much to it, I know. But it lays the foundation, gives me a starting point and it’s a re-introduction. My goal is to continue to post as often as “the spirit moves me”. I will also try and find the old articles from my WISN days and the last incarnation of this blog and throw them in the Archives for your enjoyment.
Until next time…
 
~ Coach Mike