![](\"https:\/\/images.dailykos.com\/images\/1098348\/large\/TedWilliamsBriggsStadium.jpeg?1659551929\")
I was excited. Dad and I were going to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game with Molly and her dad. Dad said that mom and David should come too, but mom didn\u2019t want to.<\/p>\nI was excited. Dad and I were going to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game with Molly and her dad. Dad said that mom and David should come too, but mom didn\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to see the game\u201d, she said, \u201cBut there is no way I\u2019m going to try to change a diaper at Briggs Stadium, and we don\u2019t have the money to pay Margie to babysit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Molly\u2019s dad\u2019s car was one of those little \u201csports cars\u201d that only two people could ride in, dad was going to drive us in our car.<\/p>\n
That buzzer buzzed that someone had pressed the button by our front door. I ran into the living room and opened it. Molly was already holding our screen door open, standing there with her dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Sport\u201d, her dad said really loud, like he was worried about talking to me, \u201cYou ready to see your first Major League Baseball game and the legendary slugger Ted Williams?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. Dad had told me Ted Williams was left-handed like me. I really just wanted to go to a real \u201cbaseball stadium\u201d and see one of those games that you saw on TV or they told you about on the radio while they were playing it. Dad had already taken me to a Michigan football game at the stadium near our house. That was pretty neat, though it was hard to see over the grownups sitting in front of us. Dad said I could sit on his lap, but that felt too much like being a little kid again. And when everyone stood up when something special happened, I couldn\u2019t see anything.<\/p>\n
I knew \u201cMajor League\u201d were all those best grownup teams that you saw on TV or heard on the radio, or had their players on those baseball cards. But I didn\u2019t know that other thing he said, but since it was Molly\u2019s dad I figured I\u2019d ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s legendary slugger\u201d, I asked.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad looked worried, like he didn\u2019t know the answer. \u201cYeah, legendary, how to explain that\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
I heard dad\u2019s voice behind me. \u201cThat means he\u2019s such a good player, people tell stories about him\u201d, he said, \u201cAnd a \u2018slugger\u2019 is a player that\u2019s a really good hitter and hits lots of home runs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. \u201cHi Jack\u201d, he said, then, \u201cHey Molly. You and your dad ready to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly nodded, and looked excited. Her dad looked at dad and did a big smile and said, \u201cEric\u2026 you\u2019re the man with the words\u201d. Dad pushed his lips together and nodded.<\/p>\n
Mom came into the living room from the kitchen and put her finger across her lips and said quietly, \u201cShhh! David\u2019s taking a nap. Let\u2019s try not to wake him because he\u2019s going to be mad he doesn\u2019t get to go to the game with his big brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell maybe we should bring him along\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine by me Jack\u201d, mom said, her eyes twinkling, \u201cBut you or Eric will have to take him somewhere to change a diaper or two and may miss some of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, laughing through his nose, \u201cSounds like hazardous duty. Guess we better let him sleep. Next time!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom made a big smile, nodded, and said, \u201cNext time.\u201d She looked like she knew something she thought was funny but wasn\u2019t saying what it was.<\/p>\n
Mom went into the kitchen and came back out again with a paper bag full of stuff, and four Seven-Up bottles in one of those cardboard things you put six pop bottles in so you could carry them together. There was a metal bottle opener in one of the square holes in the cardboard thing that didn\u2019t have a bottle in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches\u201d, she said, \u201cFigure you can eat your lunch in the car before you get there.\u201d Dad nodded and took the bag and the pop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks Jane\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cBut we have to buy the kids a hotdog, that\u2019s part of the whole experience.\u201d He looked at dad like he should think so too.<\/p>\n
Dad nodded, and looked like he hadn\u2019t thought so but was now deciding Molly\u2019s dad was right. He said, \u201cYeah\u201d, as he laughed through his nose, and then, \u201cI guess so\u201d.<\/p>\n
So we all went out the side door to get in our car. Dad opened the front door where the driver sat and I went to open the back door behind it. Molly\u2019s dad moved in front of me and opened the back door of the car before I could and said, \u201cLadies first\u201d, and looked at Molly.<\/p>\n
I had heard other grownups say that \u201clady\u201d word, but I don\u2019t remember mom and dad saying it very much. I think it was a word for a kind of special woman grownup but I wasn\u2019t sure. I moved to go into the backseat of the car but then I felt Molly\u2019s dad\u2019s hand on my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe a gentleman and let the lady get in first\u201d, he said. Then he looked at Molly and said, \u201cMolly?\u201d, and pointed his other hand at the open door. Molly climbed onto the back seat, sat down by the window on the other side, and patted the part next to her in the middle for me to sit.<\/p>\n
I got worried that I had almost done something really bad. I remembered when dad had hit me on the bottom right here outside the side door a long time ago after I said a swear word to mom. There must be things that were okay to say and do to other boys or grownup men that were not okay to do to girls or grownup women or whoever \u201cladies\u201d were. I wondered if Molly\u2019s dad or my dad might hit me on the bottom again for being bad just now, but they didn\u2019t. So I climbed onto the back seat and sat where Molly wanted me to next to her. Dad put the bag and the pop next to me.<\/p>\n
Dad drove down our street away from the park towards that giant high school place where Margie went to school. It wasn\u2019t super high up but it was the widest building I had ever seen. He turned left on that \u201cStadium\u201d street and we drove by the Michigan Stadium and then over the railroad tracks and then by that store that mom had taken me to where she got \u201cgroceries\u201d, that word for food that still was in the boxes, cans and packages and wasn\u2019t cooked yet. He kept driving and there were more buildings but also houses and even a bunch of trees all together. Some of the places we drove by were those \u201crestaurant\u201d places we had gone to eat food where you sat at a table and there were other people you didn\u2019t know sitting at other tables around you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich road are you taking?\u201d Molly\u2019s dad asked dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always taken Michigan Avenue into Detroit\u201d, dad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell you know Eric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cThey completed the extension of I-94 into downtown Detroit last year. It might be a quicker route to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI figure Coop and Molly would enjoy all the interesting places we pass along the way\u201d, dad said back to him.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad nodded. \u201cGotya\u201d, he said, and he looked back at Molly and I and opened his eyes wide and said, \u201cWe\u2019re taking the scenic route.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the scenic route?\u201d Molly and I asked at the same time. Dad and Molly\u2019s dad laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the\u2026\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said then looked like he was trying to figure out what to say next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the road that maybe takes longer\u201d, dad said, \u201cBut has more interesting things to look at than the faster road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad, still looking at us and nodding, pointed at dad and said, \u201cThere ya go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad said to Molly\u2019s dad, \u201cI want Cooper to see Ted Williams play. He\u2019s retiring at the end of the year. They say he\u2019s the best pure hitter to ever play the game, and he\u2019s a lefty like Cooper is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEric, I didn\u2019t know you were into baseball\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said.<\/p>\n
Dad kept driving and we finally went by that giant \u201cwater tower\u201d thing that went straight up and had a round part on top. It was in this different place the grownups called \u201cYpsi\u201d. We turned right and then we turned left on another big street with lots of buildings on either side.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichigan Avenue, boys and girls\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, sounding like he was trying to be silly, \u201cAnd on your left fine dining at Haab\u2019s.\u201d He looked at me and asked, \u201cYou ever eaten there, Coop?\u201d I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou actually have\u201d, dad said looking back at me for just a second, \u201cRemember? You insisted on ordering a hamburger and your mom tried to convince you to order something more in the fine dining vein?\u201d He looked back at me in the backseat and winked, like he liked that I hadn\u2019t ordered something mom wanted me to. I remembered that and nodded.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad looked at Molly, grinned, and said, \u201cMolly was the same way. When her mom and I took her she insisted on having a hotdog.\u201d I thought it was strange that he said \u201cMolly\u201d instead of \u201cyou\u201d when he talked to her, but I figured he was really talking to dad even though he was looking at Molly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I LIKE hotdogs daddy\u201d, Molly said. When she was talking to me about her dad she called him \u201cdad\u201d, but when she was talking to him she called him \u201cdaddy\u201d. I wasn\u2019t sure why, but figured I\u2019d ask her sometime when there were no grownups around.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell girlie girl\u201d, he said, \u201cWhen we get to the game I\u2019m going to buy you the best hotdog on the planet!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly smiled and nodded, looked at me and then back at her dad and said, \u201cCoob too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her dad nodded and said, \u201cOf course.\u201d Molly looked at me like that was something really good she had done for me.<\/p>\n
Then her dad looked at dad and said, \u201cNothing like a hotdog at a ball game, right Eric?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded but looked worried. He said, \u201cLiz packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for each of us. Our budget is kind of tight right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI get that Eric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cYou\u2019re still a grad student. You need that sheepskin before you can put out your shingle. So I\u2019m buying. The kids gotta have a hotdog, that\u2019s part of the whole experience!\u201d Then he stopped talking and was thinking and finally said, \u201cI\u2019m buying Hygrade Franks for everyone. My treat. You drove Eric, so it\u2019s only right!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to do\u2026\u201d, dad started to say, but Molly\u2019s dad started talking before he could finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot another word Eric\u201d, he said, \u201cMy treat! Case closed!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded and did that laugh through his nose and said, \u201cOkay fine. Thanks Jack! It IS part of the experience, you\u2019re right.\u201d And then he looked back at us and said, \u201cAnd maybe you two will get to see one of the greatest men to ever play the game, put on a show and hit a homerun, and you\u2019ll be able to tell your own kids someday that you were there in the stands.\u201d I nodded. Molly saw me nodding and she nodded too.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll this talk of food, I do have a hankering right now for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a Seven-Up\u201d, dad said, then glancing back at Molly and me, \u201cHow \u2018bout you two?\u201d. Molly and I nodded. It was interesting that talking about food sometimes made you want to eat some.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, let me dole \u2018em out\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said and turned to look back at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need\u201d, dad said, \u201cLet the kids do it!\u201d Molly\u2019s dad nodded, then looked like he was thinking about something different and looked worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll do it\u201d, said Molly, the words kind of exploded out of her mouth, like she had always wanted to and finally could. She quickly reached over me and grabbed the bag with one hand and the pop holder with the other. She reached in the bag and gave a sandwich to each of us, then pulled out the last sandwich.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor yours true\u201d, she said. I looked at her because I had no idea what she was saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s \u2018yours TRULY\u2019, girlie girl\u201d, her dad said, laughing through his nose. Molly looked mad that he told her she didn\u2019t say it right, and looked out the window holding her wrapped sandwich. Since Molly was mad, I didn\u2019t ask what that meant.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad looked worried that she was mad at him and said, \u201cHey sweetie, there\u2019s a bottle opener to open up the bottles.\u201d He reached into the back seat and took the metal thing that mom had put with the pop bottles.<\/p>\n
She looked at him, still mad, and picked up the thing the Seven-Ups were in and held it out for him and said, \u201cYou do it!\u201d I noticed she didn\u2019t say \u201cdaddy\u201d, and I think her dad noticed too.<\/p>\n
He took them, opened each one, and gave one to the rest of us, and then holding up his opened bottle said, \u201cBottoms up!\u201d and drank some. Dad said, \u201cBottoms up\u201d, too, holding his bottle towards Molly\u2019s dad and drinking some.<\/p>\n
I had seen grownups do this before with that stuff in the brown bottles or the red \u201cpunch\u201d stuff at Molly\u2019s birthday party. Molly looked at me, still kind of mad, and I raised and lowered my shoulders like I was saying, \u201cStrange grownups. What can you do?\u201d, but I didn\u2019t actually say it. But I think she figured that out, because she didn\u2019t look mad anymore, but had a different look on her face that I couldn\u2019t quite figure out and said to me quietly, \u201cTops down\u201d, and took a big drink with her eyes looking fierce. I don\u2019t think either of our dads heard her say that. I took a drink of mine but didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n
We kept on driving on the same street but there were no more buildings, just trees. There were still a couple houses, but not like where we lived where the houses were all right next to each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey look kids\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, really excited, \u201cThere\u2019s a plane coming into Willow Run airport.\u201d He pointed out to the left side of the car and Molly and I looked and saw it. I had seen planes in the sky but never one so big as this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like a Corvair 240 prop plane\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, \u201cThat\u2019s Mohawk Airlines\u2019 workhorse.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was kind of scary how big it was. It got bigger and went right over the car and you could hear it really loud too. I didn\u2019t think something so big could fly in the sky. Molly looked at me and opened her eyes really big.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Eric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said to dad, \u201cThey built the B-24 Liberator bombers at Willow Run during the war. That\u2019s why they built the Edsel Ford Freeway in the first place, to get all the workers there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah I know Jack\u201d, dad said, nodding slowly. I could tell he was feeling mad but he was pretending not to be. \u201cLiz and I flew out of there back to Binghamton a couple times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah but times are changing,\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, shaking his head slowly, \u201cWayne County Airport a bit further east has the longer runways that can accomodate the new jet airliners like the DC8 and the 707. Willow Run can\u2019t compete I\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad pushed his lips together and shook his head, still looking out ahead of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you been to the Ford Rotunda by the airport?\u201d he asked dad, \u201cIt\u2019s quite an exhibit. I think the kids would love it sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t been there\u201d, dad said, \u201cBut that would be fun sometime, to take the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s do that\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, nodding. He seemed like he wanted dad to be his friend. He looked at Molly and me and said, \u201cYou two would love it! They have this great exhibit of \u2018cars of the future\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
We kept driving on the same road and we started to go past more buildings and houses again. We kept going by more buildings and houses for a long time, and stopped at all those lights that were red, until they turned green. I looked up ahead and I could see giant buildings faraway. I remembered those big buildings Molly and I had seen in that \u201cWoo-are-ster Park\u201d place we\u2019d ridden our bikes through when Molly was trying to find her dad\u2019s new house. But these buildings looked much bigger than that. We kept driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is guys\u201d, dad said, \u201cTiger Stadium! Well actually, Briggs Stadium.\u201d He had his window open and he stuck his hand out and pointed at it up ahead on the left.<\/p>\n
Molly and I looked. It was this giant building, white on the top part and dark green on the bottom part. I had seen buildings taller, but never one as wide as this one was. It was even wider than that giant school place by our house that Margie went to.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy buddies say the best parking lot\u2019s caddy corner at Trumbull and Michigan\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said.<\/p>\n
Dad shook his head and said, \u201cI\u2019ve parked at a lot a bit down Trumbull. It’s not a bad walk and probably MUCH cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Eric, I\u2019ll pay for the parking\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cYou drove and all!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fine Jack\u201d, Dad said, \u201cBut you don\u2019t want to pay those exorbitant rates just to be a couple minutes closer to the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy treat Eric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cI know money is tight right now, you being a grad student and all.\u201d We were stopped at the corner and the car behind us started honking its horn.<\/p>\n
Dad looked kind of mad, but he pushed his lips together, didn\u2019t say anything, and nodded his head and we started going again and turned right into a place with a bunch of cars. This guy came up to dad\u2019s window. Molly\u2019s dad leaned over towards dad and handed that guy a couple of those green pieces of paper out the window, that I guess was that other kind of money that dad kept in his wallet too. Dad drove around in this place with lots of cars with no people in them and drove our car between two other cars and stopped. We all got out and walked toward the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo girls and boys\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, looking down at the two of us as he and dad walked just in front of us, \u201cYou ready to root for our Tigers?\u201d Molly and I nodded as we walked behind them and looked at all the other people heading towards the stadium.<\/p>\n
He put a hand on dad\u2019s shoulder and said, \u201cAnd we\u2019ll root for Ted to knock one out of the park for the kids while we still root for the hometeam.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he said that, I thought of that song dad sang to me sometimes about baseball\u2026<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s root, root, root for the home team
\nIf they don\u2019t win it\u2019s a shame
\nFor it\u2019s one, two, three strikes your out
\nAt the ole ball game<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAs I looked at all the other people, grownups but some kids too, walking towards the stadium, I started to get really excited. I looked at Molly walking next to me, and I could see that she knew that I was, and she was too.<\/p>\n
We crossed the big street and the sidewalk filled up with other people behind and next to us. It was hard for Molly and I to see anything but each other and the tall grownups right around us. One looked down at us and asked if this was our first game and we nodded but didn\u2019t say anything. I was okay now talking to grownups I knew, but not to ones I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The four of us got in a line and had to just stand there. Dad said we had to, \u201cstand in line to buy tickets\u201d. Molly\u2019s dad said he would buy all the tickets but dad said he wanted to buy the ones for him and me. Molly\u2019s dad kept trying to buy them all but dad wouldn\u2019t let him and even got a little mad again. After we bought the tickets we had to stand in another line where we gave our tickets to this guy who then let us go through this big gate. Then we were inside and the floor was that hard gray stuff like the floor of our basement.<\/p>\n
Once we got through the gate there weren\u2019t as many grownups around us and Molly and I could look around and see other stuff. I couldn\u2019t remember ever seeing so many grownups walking around, talking, and looking happy. There were a few kids too, some who looked like us, but most who looked older. A lot of the kids and some of the grownups were wearing baseball caps. A lot of the caps had that strange white thing on it that I\u2019d seen before but never could figure out. We walked into a tunnel and I couldn\u2019t see much in front of me because of dad and Molly\u2019s dad in front of us, but I could hear the sound of lots of voices faraway talking like they were excited.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we are\u201d, dad said, \u201cA Tiger baseball game at Briggs Stadium\u201d, and he moved behind me so I could see more and put his hands on my shoulders. Seeing dad do that, Molly\u2019s dad did the same thing with Molly.<\/p>\n
I looked out and saw a giant baseball field, so much bigger than the ones at the park. The outfield part was all green grass like at the park, but the infield part was green grass too, except there was a dirt part between the infield and the outfield where all the bases were. There was also a circle of dirt in the middle and where the home plate was. Those lines that started at the home plate and went out into the outfield were really white, shiny even.<\/p>\n
But what was really different was what was around the field. I couldn\u2019t really figure out what I was looking at, because it was all so big and so different from anything I had seen before. It looked kind of like giant dark green buildings all stuck together, around the edge of the field, but there was no wall so you could see inside them.<\/p>\n
In the middle part on the other side, it looked like the buildings didn\u2019t have a top part, so they weren\u2019t as high up. But above that middle part, there was this dark green wall with letters and numbers on it. Some of the letters and numbers were yellow and others were white. Above the wall were giant pictures with letters and words. One of the pictures had one of those brown bottles that we sometimes had in the refrigerator and dad would drink. It looked like a pop bottle but dad said that kids wouldn\u2019t like it. He let me taste it once and he was right, it was bad. And then above those pictures was what looked like a giant dark green square clock.<\/p>\n
I looked behind me and there were stairs that went way up. Like the stairs up from our basement except they went up really really far, and they were that gray hard stuff instead of wood. On either side of those stairs were dark green chairs, more than I could count even, that all looked exactly the same and were in long straight lines going away from the stairs. Each line of chairs was higher up than the one in front of it. There was a top part above us, but it was way up high.<\/p>\n
I looked at the chairs close to us and they were shiny green and all attached to each other. Each one had a white number on the top part. If you looked down the row of chairs and you saw the number of each, it was like counting, either regular counting or backwards counting. Each row of chairs ended at another one of those gray stairways, but then started again on the other side and kept going, what looked like all the way around the field. I remembered the stadium by our house. It didn\u2019t have chairs like this one, or a part on top, but it had the same kind of gray staircases and the sitting parts went up.<\/p>\n
And there were people all over, mostly grownups but some kids too. There were people sitting in some of the chairs and other people were walking up and down the stairways. There were other people out on the field and they had on those \u201cuniform\u201d things with baseball caps.<\/p>\n
I felt dad\u2019s hands pat my shoulders. \u201cReally something Cloob, isn\u2019t it\u201d, he said. I couldn\u2019t think of the right words to say, it was all so strange and amazing, so I just nodded. I looked at Molly and she shook her head and made her eyes really big, like she thought it was amazing too.<\/p>\n
Dad kind of bent down so his head was close to mine and said quietly, \u201cWish I could see it through your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood back up and patted me on the shoulders again and said, \u201cWell, let\u2019s find our seats.\u201d I had heard that word \u201cseats\u201d before, but now I could see that it had to do with sitting in chairs.<\/p>\n
Dad and I climbed the gray stairs and Molly and her dad were behind us. We went way up before we stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cRow W\u201d, dad said, \u201cSeats seven through ten. Just down here.\u201d He walked down to where a couple of grownup men and an older boy were sitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse us\u201d, dad said, and the grownups pulled themselves back so there was more room in front of them for us to go by.<\/p>\n
The kid did not, but the grownup next to him tapped him hard twice on the knee and said, \u201cBe polite son. Scooch back so they can get through.\u201d The older boy nodded and moved back.<\/p>\n
That \u201cson\u201d word was kind of like a name. Some grownups used it with kids when they didn\u2019t know their names, but sometimes even when they knew the kid had a different name.<\/p>\n
The grownup looked up at dad and asked, \u201cBringing your son to the game? Is it his first one?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad smiled and nodded and said, \u201cYep. See a big league game. See the Tigers play, but also a last chance to see Ted Williams swing a bat before he retires. My son has a pretty good swing as well and he\u2019s a lefty too.\u201d Both the grownups smiled and nodded like that was really good. The kid nodded too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s great\u201d, said one of the grownups. Then he looked at me and asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s your name son?\u201d<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure what to say. If a kid asked me my name I\u2019d say it was Cooper, but this was a grownup that I didn\u2019t know, and I wondered if I should say my regular name instead. I didn\u2019t say anything and looked at dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour son shy?\u201d the grownup asked dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u201d, dad said, shaking his head, like he really wanted that guy not to think I was shy. \u201cIt\u2019s just that his given name is Jonathan, but his nickname is \u2018Cooper\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how\u2019d you come up with \u2018Cooper\u2019, and not \u2018Johnny\u2019?\u201d he asked, looking up at dad and then at me.<\/p>\n
Again I wasn\u2019t sure what to say, I had so many nicknames that I didn\u2019t really remember how \u2018Cooper\u2019 became the regular one. But Molly was behind me and decided she better help me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called him Coob. I gave him that name\u201d, she said, like that was a really neat thing she did and he should know that.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, said the grownup, looking at Molly like she was strange to say that, like a girl shouldn\u2019t say or do stuff like that.<\/p>\n
Dad was looking worried and said, \u201cWell, one of his nicknames was \u2018Clubius\u2019 and we called him \u2018Cloob\u2019 sometimes and his best friend Molly here liked to call him \u2018Coob\u2019 instead.\u201d Dad waved his hand and said, \u201cIt\u2019s a long story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell none of my business really\u201d, he said, \u201cSorry to bother you. Please, come on by and enjoy the game!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded and moved forward waving me to follow. I nodded and followed dad. Molly nodded and followed me.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad was behind Molly with her hands on her shoulders and said to the two grownups, \u201cEnjoy the game!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad finally sat down and patted the chair next to him for me to sit. Molly sat next to me and her dad sat on the other side.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing better than a Tiger baseball game on a nice summer\u2019s day\u201d her dad said, as he sat down next to her.<\/p>\n
There was this guy wearing dark blue clothes with a catcher\u2019s helmet on the top of his head but not down over his face. He had this big dark blue pillow thing on the front part of his body. Dad said he was the \u201cumpire\u201d. I\u2019d seen guys like that at those regular games out in the park. That umpire guy was talking to these other two guys, one with the Detroit team black baseball cap with that strange white thing on it and the other with a black cap with a red \u201cB\u201d on it. Dad said that was, \u201cThe two team managers exchanging lineups, saying which of their players are in today\u2019s game, what position they\u2019re playing, and what order they\u2019re batting in.\u201d Then all the team guys for both teams ran out in the infield and stood in two lines. All the Detroit team guys in one line and the Boston guys in the other.<\/p>\n
There was this loud voice that everyone could hear. I couldn\u2019t figure out who was saying the words. The loud voice said, \u201cWelcome to Brigg\u2019s stadium for today\u2019s game between the Boston Red Sox and YOUR DETROIT TIGERS!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad and Molly\u2019s dad clapped their hands along with most of the other people sitting around us. Molly\u2019s dad yelled out, and dad put his hands up to his mouth and blew out air and made a whistling noise. A lot of the other people were making noises too.<\/p>\n
The loud voice said, \u201cFor the visiting Boston Red Sox here is today\u2019s lineup\u2026 Batting first, playing shortstop, number one, Don Buddin!\u201d This guy at the beginning of the Boston team line took his cap off his head and raised it up in the air.<\/p>\n
Dad clapped, but not as much as when the voice said \u201cDETROIT TIGERS\u201d. Some other people were clapping too, but not very hard. I remembered the college songs dad sang where you didn\u2019t like the other team, but you didn\u2019t hate them either.<\/p>\n
Dad looked over to Molly\u2019s dad and said, \u201cI read that Buddin was a big prospect for the Sox, but he makes a lot of errors, which you really don\u2019t want, particularly at shortstop.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at dad and asked, \u201cErrors?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at me, smiled, nodded, and said, \u201cYeah. That\u2019s when they hit the ball to you and you mess up and can\u2019t catch it and throw them out. Most of the hitters are right-handed and so most of the ground balls are hit to the shortstop, so he\u2019s gotta be good. You don\u2019t want your shortstop making a lot of errors.\u201d That made sense, so I nodded. Molly nodded too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow Eric\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, \u201cYou really know your baseball!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad pushed his lips together and nodded.<\/p>\n
Then the loud voice said, \u201cBatting second, playing second base, number three, Pete Runnels!\u201d The guy next to that first guy lifted his cap.<\/p>\n
Dad clapped and said, \u201cHe\u2019s been on the American League all-star team for the past two years, and he\u2019s a much better defensive player than Buddin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cYou could be doing color commentary up there in the announcers booth!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad laughed through his nose and said, \u201cWell, George Kell and that new guy, Ernie Harwell, are pretty damn good! I couldn\u2019t keep it up for two or three hours like they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the loud voice talked again, but this time he sounded different, more excited. \u201cLadies and gentlemen. Batting third, playing leftfield, in his final year, number nine, TED WILLIAMS!\u201d Dad stood up and clapped really hard and whistled again, and Molly\u2019s dad stood up and clapped too. Other people were standing up and clapping really hard and yelling too. I had seen grownups clap before, but never stand up and clap. Molly and I weren\u2019t sure what to do, so we stood up too and clapped.<\/p>\n
I could see that Ted Williams guy lift his cap and wave it a little bit before he put it back on his head. Though he was smiling and far away, I could tell he looked sad. I wondered if he was sad that he wasn\u2019t going to play baseball anymore. I wondered why he wouldn\u2019t play anymore.<\/p>\n
Unlike with the first two guys, people kept clapping and yelling, dad was still whistling, and that Ted Williams guy nodded and took off his cap and waved it again. I looked at dad and he looked like he was going to cry. I had never seen him cry. I\u2019d seen mom cry but not dad. I don\u2019t think men were supposed to cry. I felt like something special was happening, but I couldn\u2019t figure it out. I looked at Molly but she raised her shoulders like she didn\u2019t know either.<\/p>\n
Dad rubbed his fingers in his eyes and then looked at Molly and me. His eyes were big, brown and sad. He held his finger up in the air, moved it back and forth and said, \u201cI hope you two never forget that you saw probably the best left-handed hitter to ever play the game of baseball! You may watch baseball games for another half a century, but you\u2019ll never see anyone like him!\u201d Molly and I both nodded. I had never seen dad like this before.<\/p>\n
\u201cEric, are you alright?\u201d Molly\u2019s dad asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, dad said, \u201cI\u2019m okay. It\u2019s just that, all my adult life as a sports reporter I\u2019ve followed Williams\u2019 career. He was born the same year I was. I love the game, and he was always the player that as a kid I wanted to be.\u201d Dad was looking like he was going to cry again and said, \u201cIn 1941 at just 23 years old he hit 406, for god\u2019s sake! No one had hit over 400 since Bill Terry in 1930. No one\u2019s done it since. Stan Musial got close, but it may never happen again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally people stopped clapping and yelling and sat down again. Ted Williams put his cap back on, nodded again and lowered his head and looked at the guy on his Red Sox team standing next to him. That loud voice said that guy\u2019s name and what number he was and people did just regular clapping, then all the rest of the guys standing on the field. Then the voice said the names of the Detroit players, and the people clapped and yelled for them, more than they did for the other Red Sox player, but not as much as they had for Ted Williams, even though he was on the other team and not OUR team.<\/p>\n
After that, the loud voice said, \u201cPlease stand for the singing of the National Anthem!\u201d People stood up. Dad and Molly\u2019s dad stood up. Dad put his hand out toward me and moved his fingers like he was telling Molly and I to stand up too. There was a different loud voice that started to sing. Dad, Molly\u2019s dad, and other grownups started to sing too. I had heard the song before, but I couldn\u2019t remember where I heard it. I couldn\u2019t remember dad ever singing it to me\u2026<\/p>\n
O say, can you see
\nBy the dawn’s early light
\nWhat so proudly we hailed
\nAt the twilight’s last gleaming<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI couldn\u2019t figure out what the words were talking about.<\/p>\n
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
\nThrough the perilous fight
\nO’er the ramparts we watched
\nWere so gallantly streaming<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen I heard the part about \u201cstripes\u201d and \u201cstars\u201d I remembered that picture of that flag thing on TV when someone else was singing this song. I guess this was our \u201cAmerican\u201d team song.<\/p>\n
And the rocket’s red glare
\nThe bombs bursting in air
\nGave proof through the night
\nThat our flag was still there<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThose rockets and bombs made it sound like a song about fighting a war. I wondered again if I would have to fight in a war like dad did, except the badguys would be that \u201cSoviet Union\u201d place that grownups and some older kids were always talking about.<\/p>\n
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
\nO’er the land of the free
\nAnd the home of the brave<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI didn\u2019t want to have to be brave and fight in a war. I liked pretending to fight in a war with other kids, pretending to be brave but I didn\u2019t want to fight in a real one. Have to be shot and maybe killed or wounded.<\/p>\n
When the song ended, dad and Molly\u2019s dad and all the other grownups clapped. That older kid that we walked by was clapping too. I was too worried to clap. Molly didn\u2019t clap either. Then everybody sat down, all the players ran back to their special places where they sat, and it looked like they were going to start playing.<\/p>\n
The Tiger players ran out of their place and out onto the field with their gloves to get ready for the other team, that Red Sox team, to take their turn and do the hitting.<\/p>\n
The loud voice said, \u201cThe first batter for the visiting Boston Red Sox, number one, Don Buddin!\u201d<\/p>\n
This guy with the Red Sox uniform and cap walked up toward home plate, but before he got next to it he took a couple swings of the bat like he was pretending to hit. Then he walked up to the home plate and stood on that other side for the right-handed guys. He moved his feet back and forth and banged his bat on the plate and then moved it back and forth as he looked at the pitcher. Then he bent down a little, held his bat up in the air behind him, and stopped moving. The \u201cpitcher\u201d guy on the Tigers that threw the ball to him to try to hit it, looked at the \u201cbatter\u201d guy, nodded his head, and then lifted his leg, put the ball in his hand behind him and threw it towards him.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox guy with the bat didn\u2019t swing. That \u201cumpire\u201d guy with all the dark blue stuff on made a loud noise and pointed his arm down to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cBall one\u201d, said dad, \u201cHe\u2019s feeling the pitcher out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at dad, not knowing what was happening, not even knowing what to ask about.<\/p>\n
Dad was still looking out at the field, but said to me, \u201cIt was a pitch that wasn\u2019t in the strike zone. That\u2019s called a \u2018ball\u2019.\u201d He waved his hand in front of his face and shook his head. \u201cI know it\u2019s confusing\u201d, he said, \u201cBut if the pitcher throws three more pitches that aren\u2019t in the strike zone and the batter doesn\u2019t swing at them, the batter gets a \u201cwalk\u201d and can go to first base.\u201d<\/p>\n
The batter guy moved his feet on the ground again, moved his shoulders, moved the bat back and forth, and then held it up behind him and looked at the pitcher guy.<\/p>\n
There were so many questions I could ask, but the pitcher started to throw the ball again so I didn\u2019t. The batter guy still didn\u2019t swing at it. The umpire, \u201cStee-rike one!\u201d Some people around us clapped. Other people yelled out words.<\/p>\n
The batter guy walked away from the plate and took two pretend swings, looked out at the field and nodded. Then he walked back to the plate and did those same things he had done before, moving his feet back and forth, shaking his shoulders, banging the plate with his bat, then moving his bat back and forth and finally holding it up again behind him.<\/p>\n
This time the pitcher guy threw it and he swung and there was a crack noise, and the ball went up in the air above the top part above us so I couldn\u2019t see it. The guy that hit it started running towards first base. The guy on the Tigers that was way out in the middle of the outfield looked up, yelled something out, started to run, waved his arms, stopped still looking up, held up his glove, and the ball came down into it. People clapped and yelled.<\/p>\n
The loud voice said who was going to be the next guy and he walked to the plate and did a lot of the same things that the first guy did. But he stood on the other side of the plate where I would stand if I was trying to hit the ball. He was left-handed like me.<\/p>\n
I pointed at him and I said to Molly, \u201cHe\u2019s left-handed like I am!\u201d Molly nodded slowly but she looked a little worried, like something wasn\u2019t good. Other times, when I was worried about stuff, Molly could tell, and if grownups were around who could hear, instead of asking me what\u2019s wrong, she would just look at me, and make her mouth move like she was asking, \u201cWhat?\u201d, but not saying that word. So this time I decided to do that with her, and I looked at her really hard in the eyes and did a \u201cwhat\u201d with my mouth without saying it.<\/p>\n
She looked even more worried and looked over at her dad and then back at me and then shook her head just a little bit, like she didn\u2019t want to tell me because her dad would hear, and I guess my dad too. I nodded like I had figured that out.<\/p>\n
We heard the crack of a ball being hit by a bat. I looked at the field and that second guy had hit the ball and was running fast to first base trying to get there before he was \u201cout\u201d. But one of the Tiger guys in the infield got the bouncing ball and threw it to that other Tiger guy at first base before the Red Sox guy could get there. I saw that there was another \u201cumpire\u201d over by first base wearing the same dark blue stuff as that other umpire guy, but not the big pillow thing on the front part of him. He stuck out his arm and yelled something, but I couldn\u2019t figure out what he said. People clapped and yelled. Dad clapped and whistled. Molly\u2019s dad clapped and yelled.<\/p>\n
The guy running ran over first base but he turned and stopped running and started to walk back to that place where the rest of his team were sitting in a row. I figured he was \u201cout\u201d, and that\u2019s what the umpire had said. This was all making sense to me.<\/p>\n
Then the loud voice said, \u201cLadies and gentleman, the next batter is NUMBER NINE\u201d, and the voice took longer saying those last two words, and then said, \u201cTED WILLIAMS!\u201d<\/p>\n
People clapped harder and some made noise or yelled words even though he wasn\u2019t on the Tigers team. Dad whistled and Molly\u2019s dad clapped and said, \u201cGO TED!\u201d<\/p>\n
That Ted Williams guy walked up to the plate and started doing his things to get ready like the other guys did, and he did some different stuff too, lifting up each shoe and hitting it with the end of his bat. Then he looked at that \u201ccatcher\u201d guy behind the plate who had that special mask on, smiled and nodded and said something to him. That catcher guy then started to nod too. Then he banged his bat on the plate, looked at the Tigers pitcher guy, got a little lower, brought his bat up and behind him and stood still, waiting for the pitcher guy to throw the ball towards him.<\/p>\n
The pitcher guy stood there in his spot in that middle part of the infield, on that little mound of dirt. He shook his head, but no one was talking to him so I couldn\u2019t figure out why. He shook his head again. Then he finally nodded, and he started to move his arms and raise his leg to throw the ball but stopped. I looked at Ted Williams and he had stepped away from the plate. It didn\u2019t make sense. If he was so good at hitting, I wondered why he didn’t want the pitcher to throw the ball to him so he could hit it. I looked at dad.<\/p>\n
Dad saw me look at him and said, \u201cYeah. He\u2019s trying to rattle the pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRattle?\u201d I asked, only remembering that word as a toy that my brother David had that made noise when he shook it.<\/p>\n
Dad nodded, looking out toward the field and not at me and said, \u201cMake the pitcher not think very well so he has more trouble throwing a good pitch.\u201d I nodded, though I was thinking that didn\u2019t sound very nice.<\/p>\n
Ted Williams stepped back up next to the plate, smiled, moved his bat around and finally pulled it back, stopped moving, and waited for the pitcher to throw it. The pitcher finally did. The umpire behind that catcher guy said something and moved his arm down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBall one\u201d, dad said and shook his head, \u201cNot in the strike zone. Williams will almost never swing at a bad pitch. That\u2019s one of the things that makes him such a great hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad laughed and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got our own George Kell here girls and boys!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly looked at her dad. He saw her and said, \u201cCoop\u2019s dad really knows his baseball.\u201d Molly looked at my dad then looked at me. I lifted my shoulders and put them down again like I didn\u2019t know that, or what was going on.<\/p>\n
The pitcher threw the ball again and it wasn\u2019t in the \u201cstrike zone\u201d either.<\/p>\n
\u201cBall two\u201d, dad said, and he shook his head and laughed through his nose. He turned towards all of us and said, \u201cWhat do you bet Foytack walks him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFoytack walks him?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Still looking out at the field, dad smiled and nodded and said, \u201cFoytack is the Tiger\u2019s pitcher. I think he\u2019ll end up throwing Williams four bad pitches which will mean he can go to first base.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut doesn\u2019t he want to hit it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure\u201d, dad said, still looking out at the field and not at me, \u201cBut he\u2019s going to make the pitcher throw him some good pitches first.\u201d<\/p>\n
That Foytack pitcher guy threw another pitch and the umpire put his arm up instead of down and said, \u201cStee-rike one!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that a good pitch?\u201d I asked dad. He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he hit it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Dad nodded and said, \u201cTed\u2019s studying the pitcher to see what kind of stuff he\u2019s got, what his pitches are like. He\u2019s waiting for the best pitch to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly was listening to dad and I talk and I could tell she wanted to join it. \u201cWhat\u2019s the best pitch to hit?\u201d she asked. Dad nodded, pushed his lips together, but smiled too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best pitch to hit is one that\u2019s out over the plate\u201d, dad said, \u201cAnd Ted figures the pitcher has got to throw one of those or walk him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foytack threw another pitch but Williams didn\u2019t swing, and the umpire said it was a ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree and one\u201d, dad said.<\/p>\n
Both Molly and I asked, \u201cThree and one?\u201d at the same time. Molly\u2019s dad laughed. Dad looked at Molly\u2019s dad and did a big smile but kept from laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYep\u201d, dad said, \u201cThat\u2019s called the \u2018count\u2019. How many balls and strikes the batter has. Ted has three balls and only one strike. If he gets four balls he gets a \u2018walk\u2019 and gets to go to first base. If he gets three strikes, he\u2019s \u2018out\u2019, and has to go back and sit with his teammates and wait for his next chance to bat later in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foytack pitched again and Williams still didn\u2019t swing. The umpire said it was a ball and stuck his hand out and pointed towards first base. Williams tossed his bat back toward where the other players on his team were sitting and ran slowly down to first base.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalked him\u201d, dad said, looking at Molly\u2019s dad. I could tell dad liked that he knew so much about baseball.<\/p>\n
The next Red Sox guy, when he finally hit the ball, hit it straight up in the air. I looked up but couldn\u2019t see where it went because the top part above me was in the way. That Foytack guy, the catcher and two other Tiger guys all ran to the same spot near where people were sitting watching. Foytack the pitcher yelled, \u201cThird base\u201d and pointed at another guy who waved his hands and caught the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree outs\u201d, said dad, \u201cNow it\u2019s the Tigers\u2019 turn to bat.\u201d All the Tiger guys who were out on the field ran to their place where they all sat in a row, and the Red Sox guys came out of their place and ran out on the field. I remembered that this was how it worked in the games that kids played too in the park. Three \u201couts\u201d, then it was the other team\u2019s turn.<\/p>\n
On the Tiger\u2019s turn, two guys got out, then two other guys walked, then the next guy got out, so it was the Red Sox turn again. Two of their guys hit the ball backward, which dad said was a \u201cfoul ball\u201d, and finally got out. The third guy hit the ball the right way but the Tigers guy got it when it was bouncing and threw it to first base before he could get there. Then it was the Tigers\u2019 turn again and some of their guys hit the ball better and it bounced out into the outfield and other guys could run around the other bases and get back to the home plate and get what dad said was a \u201crun\u201d. The Tigers hit so much that the Red Sox \u201cmanager\u201d guy, dad said he was the guy in charge of the team, came out to talk to the pitcher and told him to stop pitching, and had a different guy start pitching because the first guy wasn\u2019t doing very good. Before they got out, the Tigers had three of those \u201cruns\u201d and the Red Sox didn\u2019t have any.<\/p>\n
Then the Red Sox got another turn and they started hitting better too, and when it was Ted Williams turn, he hit the ball right at that pitcher guy but he couldn\u2019t get it and it bounced out into the outfield. Before they got out the Red Sox got three runs too. Dad said the game was \u201ctied\u201d, which meant that both teams had the same number of runs. But the Tigers got more runs in their next turn, so he said they were \u201cahead\u201d again.<\/p>\n
Then when it was the next Red Sox turn to hit the Tigers had a different guy pitching, and the next time Ted Williams got up he hit the ball really hard, but the Tiger guy in the middle of the outfield ran and got it, though he fell down when he got it. Dad said it was a \u201cgreat catch by that young guy, Al Kaline\u201d, and though Ted Williams hit it really good, he still got out.<\/p>\n
Then when we were waiting for the Tigers to take their turn again, this guy started walking up the gray steps near us with this big silver box in front of him that was attached to his body so he didn\u2019t have to hold it with his hands. He kept yelling, \u201cHOT DOGS! They\u2019re HYGRADE!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cOkay, boys and girls, time for the best hot dogs in the whole world!\u201d He stood up and held up his hand with four fingers out. The guy with the silver box nodded his head and opened up his box and took four hot dogs out.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad turned and pointed at Molly and asked, \u201cKetchup?\u201d She nodded. Then he pointed at me and asked, \u201cCoop?\u201d<\/p>\n
I liked hot dogs with mustard so I said, \u201cMustard.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at dad who said, \u201cMustard, onions and pickle relish, if they\u2019ve got it.\u201d I guess the guy with the silver box heard what we all said and nodded.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cSame for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guy with the silver box nodded and held up a hand with two fingers, and said, \u201cTwo dollars.\u201d Molly\u2019s dad took one of those \u201cwallet\u201d things out of his pocket and took two of those green pieces of paper out that I guess was another kind of money called \u201cdollars\u201d, different from the metal coin money. The box guy fixed up all the hot dogs and wrapped each one in a piece of white paper and gave them to the grownup guy sitting next to us who then gave them to Molly\u2019s dad. Molly\u2019s dad gave those two dollars to that same grownup guy sitting next to us who gave them to the guy with the silver hotdog box.<\/p>\n
My hotdog tasted good. It was kind of like the hotdogs we had at home except the bun was warmer and softer, which made it taste better. It had a lot of mustard which made it really tasty, almost too tasty, but I ate it, because I didn\u2019t want dad or Molly\u2019s dad to get mad.<\/p>\n
Then each team kept taking turns but couldn\u2019t get any more runs. Ted Williams walked again, and the next guy too, but then the next guy got out. The next time it was the Red Sox turn, two guys hit the ball into the outfield and were able to get to first base, and the first guy was able to run over to third base. Then this other Red Sox guy hit a ball up in the air in the outfield and the Tiger guy caught it, but the Red Sox guy got to run to home plate and get a run. Dad said the Tigers were still ahead.<\/p>\n
Later dad said it was the \u201clast chance\u201d for the Red Sox to take their turn. The Tigers were \u201cahead\u201d, because they had more runs, which meant the Red Sox were \u201cbehind\u201d. If they didn\u2019t \u201cscore\u201d at least one run, the game would end and the Tigers would win. The first guy to try to hit for the Red Sox hit the ball way up in the air but the Tiger guy in the outfield caught the ball and that guy was out. Then it was Ted Williams\u2019 turn again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Eric\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said, \u201cWhat\u2019s Williams\u2019 strategy this time?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad seemed happy since we got to the stadium and I could tell that he liked watching the baseball game and talking about all the guys who were playing and what he thought they were going to do. But now he looked over at Molly\u2019s dad and looked happy and worried at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, dad said, \u201cAguirre\u2019s pitching well, but Williams will take another walk if Aguirre doesn\u2019t give him anything good to hit. Williams hit him pretty hard the last time he was up, and it was just a great play by Kaline in Center to catch that thing, otherwise it would have been a double. But Aguirre won\u2019t want to walk him and put the tying run on base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ted Williams walked up to the plate, and like he did those other times, he said something to the Tigers\u2019 catcher and the umpire. Then he did all the things he did before, knocking the bat on his shoes and moving it back and forth. Finally he pulled the bat back and didn\u2019t move. The Tiger pitcher threw the ball, but Ted Williams didn\u2019t swing.<\/p>\n
\u201cStee-rike one\u201d, said the umpire. Ted Williams looked at the umpire and nodded his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat looked like a good pitch by Aguirre, low and probably caught the corner\u201d, dad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaught the corner?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Dad nodded, still looking out at the field, and said, \u201cWhen the pitcher throws the ball and it gets to the batter it has to be over the plate and below the batter\u2019s shoulders and above his knees for it to be a strike.\u201d He touched his hands to those parts of his body when he said them. \u201cAnd that pitch was probably just above the knees and caught the inside corner of the plate.\u201d Wow, I thought, baseball had a lot of rules.<\/p>\n
The next three pitches the pitcher threw were all balls and Ted Williams didn\u2019t swing and just watched them.<\/p>\n
Dad moved his body around in his chair, put his hands on his knees and leaned forward, like he knew something was going to happen. The pitcher threw the ball and Ted Williams swung and there was that crack noise, really loud this time. The ball went way up in the air out into the outfield, and the Tiger guy out there ran back to the wall behind him, but didn\u2019t even put his glove up to catch it. The ball came down in the sitting part out there behind him and bounced farther up in that sitting part.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomerun!\u201d dad said. It kind of exploded out of him, like he had been waiting to say it for a long time, and was so glad he finally could. He wasn\u2019t worried anymore and I couldn\u2019t remember seeing him so happy. He looked at Molly and me with a really big smile on his face. \u201cDid you two see it?\u201d he asked. Molly and I nodded. I could tell that made him even more happy.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad made kind of a whistling noise and said, \u201cWow!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad, Molly\u2019s dad and most everybody else watching stood up, clapped and yelled, even though Ted Williams was on the other team. He ran around the bases, but not really fast, and took his cap off his head like he and all the other players had done before the game when the loud voice had said their names. I looked at dad and his eyes were wet like he was going to cry again. He looked at me and his wet eyes sparkled as he shook his head slowly. He didn\u2019t seem like a grownup anymore, just a kid like me and Molly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh Cloob\u201d, he said, \u201cI\u2019m so glad we came and you got to see that! The greatest lefty ever to play the game!\u201d He put his fingers in his eyes and rubbed them.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s right you two\u201d, Molly\u2019s dad said rubbing Molly\u2019s shoulder, \u201cThis is something you can tell your own kids someday!\u201d<\/p>\n
I really thought about what Molly\u2019s dad was saying. That Molly and I would be grownups someday and be a mom and dad and have our own kids. I still couldn\u2019t quite imagine that. All the grownups I knew were so different from Molly and me and all the other kids I knew. We would never be like them We would be completely different!<\/p>\n
So the Tigers didn\u2019t get any runs when they took their last turn, so the game was still \u201ctied\u201d. Dad said that if it was a football game or a hockey game it would be over and would be a \u201ctie game\u201d that neither team won.<\/p>\n
I remembered what mom kept saying about \u201cAmerica\u201d against the \u201cSoviet Union\u201d. She didn\u2019t want it to be a war. She thought the best thing was if it were more like a game, a game that nobody won. That would be a game that stayed \u201ctied\u201d. But would that mean that nobody could get anymore runs? If it were a baseball game it wouldn\u2019t be very fun if you could never get runs or even hit a homerun. Or maybe if \u201cAmerica\u201d got some runs, then they\u2019d have to let the \u201cSoviet Union\u201d get the same number of runs when it was their turn, but not more. I didn\u2019t know how that would work, and it seemed maybe like more strange grownup stuff.<\/p>\n
But dad said that in baseball, if it was tied, you had to keep playing more turns until one of the teams got more runs than the other and won the game. He called that \u201cplaying extra innings\u201d. So the Red Sox took their \u201cextra innings\u201d turn but didn\u2019t get any runs. But when the Tigers took their turn, they scored a run, and as soon as that Tiger guy ran over home plate, the game was over and they had won.<\/p>\n
Dad was so happy. He liked the Tigers but he really liked Ted Williams and wanted me to see him hit a homerun. So he did hit that homerun and I did get to see it, but the Tigers still won the game. So dad got both things he wanted. I don\u2019t think he usually got all the things he wanted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was excited. Dad and I were going to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game with Molly and her dad. Dad said that mom and David should come too, but mom didn\u2019t want to. \u201cI would love to see the game\u201d, she said, \u201cBut there is no way I\u2019m going to try to change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[1791,13,1773,515,1775],"class_list":["post-7403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1950s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-childhood","tag-human-development","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t