Tags
athletes, baseball, batting cages, birthday, Dodger Stadium, Dodgers, exercise, God, Lord, Mar Vista, players, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, skills, softball, sports
I’ve been involved in this type of activity quite a few times on my birthday…
ANOTHER SET OF RECKONINGS CONCERNING TURNING ANOTHER YEAR OLDER, AND HOW THAT TIES IN WITH MY SPORTS LIFE
Though I’m sure I have mentioned this before on this blog around this time most years if not every year,
I’m always glad to mark the anniversary of my coming into this world, God blessing me to be able to add another candle on my proverbial birthday cake as I’ve always made it a particular point to thank the Lord in prayer for letting me see another birthday when I wake up on the morning of June 18th.
As I heard someone say on a TV show…
“Celebrate your birthdays. They’re precious.”
I’m particularly blessed and thankful that during the course of my sports life, June 18th has been a pretty good day for me as whenever I’ve played baseball or softball on that day,
I’ve done fairly well as I remember going 3-for-3 with a double the day I turned sixteen in 1983 while playing for my Colt League baseball team in Santa Monica;
I believe it was the only time I got three hits in an official baseball game!
I also remember the last time I played on my birthday – it was at a pick-up softball game in Mar Vista two years ago and I had a good day there, going 4-for-5 with a home run.
And I’ve played in and done well in at least a couple of more pick-up softball games over the years on June 18th, which was fun.
Of course the three times I’ve been to Dodger Stadium on my birthday – the first time in 1978 when I turned eleven, the Dodgers shutting out the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) 5-0, along with seeing that team the days I turned thirty and thirty-three in 1997 and 2000, respectively,
Are pleasant memories for me.
As such, my birthday plans for this year include going to some batting cages and taking some swings, along with other things that I think will be fun.
Castle Park Batting Cages in Sherman Oaks: I spent my birthday in 2014 here hitting balls, it was fun and a good workout…
However,
I have to be honest when I say that there are some thoughts I have regarding turning fifty-seven this coming Tuesday – a mere three years away from the “big six-zero”,
Which is mind-boggling to me.
Also,
Though I’m very well aware that it doesn’t compare to being a major league ballplayer getting older in the slightest,
And though it could very well be a temporary thing and nothing to worry about whatsoever,
I couldn’t help noticing while playing in my Saturday pick-up softball games that as far as hitting,
I haven’t done as well as I’ve normally done during some of my most recent games.
And I’ve particularly noticed players younger than me completely outhitting me, players absolutely whacking the ball very, very far and getting home runs like I used to,
While in the past couple or so games I was satisfied to get singles through the infield.
To put it another way in a long-story-short fashion…
Though I may be wrong, at least for now,
I’m beginning to feel that due to my beginning to approach the late stages of middle age, my skills are starting to diminish just a teeny, tiny bit in an “at the embryonic point” kind of way.
Not that it matters as it really is just a game at the end of the day,
But I’m starting to understand what veteran major leaguers and athletes in general whose best days are beginning to be behind them feel.
Of course there’s that possibility that I could go off and have a kick-a** day with the bat the next game I play.
But as I approach my late fifties,
I just can’t help feeling that my best days are at the embryonic stage of being behind me.
Anyhow,
That shouldn’t change how I feel about playing softball as if nothing else, it provides exercise that I need.
It’s just that sooner or later, I’ll eventually need to make an adjustment of my mind set, my expectations of myself on the diamond and how I perform, especially with the bat;
That the day will eventually come where I won’t be the same player and hitter that I was during most of the years I played.
I suppose that’s my goal now – to be able to enjoy playing softball despite the eventual and inevitable diminishing of my skills as I age, which I certainly pray won’t happen for a long time, but I know that’s ultimately not up to me;
We’ll certainly see how I do in my next game.
In the meantime, no matter what happens,
I’ll be sure to remember that God blessed me to be able to play softball.
And I’ll be sure to have a good birthday, thank the Good Lord for having and keeping me on his wake-up list,
And pray that He keeps me on his wake-up list for many, many, many more days to come.
A nice looking piece of birthday cake, though I prefer chocolate…