Smell of The Mitt

The 'Dodger' 1970-72

To most, seeing someone with their face stuck into one’s baseball mitt would just be down right silly. But, for a twelve-year-old boy, the smell from the leather of the glove and that of the ball, well, it was just heavenly. Add to these the warmth of the California sunshine, the brilliant blue sky and diving into the lush green grass, nothing, no nothing else came close to perfection in this boy’s mind.

The 'Hall of Famer'

It was 1970, beginning what was my third year of playing baseball, my first as a Dodger. Seriously, Los Angeles, baseball, Dodger…perhaps you can’t imagine the thrill that this twelve-year-old was experiencing. Though both the great Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale had just recently retired, still there was Hall of Famer Don Sutton on the mound, Wes Parker at first base (Steve Garvey, soon to be the starter), or my favorite, Willie Davis in centerfield. It was a time that, well, I knew baseball like the back of my hand. No, better than the back of my hand.

 I would go on to play more than 200 hundred games during those childhood and youth years. I would have even missed meals just to get into a game. I imagine that there were times when I questioned where he was, but typically, just playing was worth him not showing up. To my dad’s credit, other than my ‘Babe Dahlgren’ story, which I shared in a post called, ‘Baseball and the Babe’, that Spring afternoon game at Dodger Stadium stands out as the greatest.

The Dodgers had just returned from Vero Beach, where they played their preseason games. They had one more game before the season began. It was against our own College hero’s, the USC Trojans. Both teams had three championships over the past decade, and the future looked bright.

'Man Wall' with Baseball Memoirs

Seriously, the only part of the game that I recall, was when the Dodgers took the field for warmups. The infielders were warming up in make-believe style. That is, they didn’t have a ball. They pretended to throw the ball on the ground and in the air, making great throws and leaps in order to keep the ball in play.

My 'Dodger' Team

On this particular afternoon … an amazing beautiful day, at Dodger Stadium, playing the Trojans, with my dad sitting next to me. Memories.....they just don’t get much better.

Fathers...you, we have a great opportunity to make lasting impressions upon our sons. My encouragement, make this your life's goal. Paul says, "Fathers, bring your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4