Claim you’re making / More than you are / Hitch your wagon / To a star / The truth is incidental / To what you gotta say / Those who can’t play ball / Are prone to fade away Riggs Hellams completed his session with the fungo, and now all he had to do …
Tag: baseball
Peeking Outside
Man, oh, man. My life has changed. For twenty years, I flew about fifty thousand miles in each, writing about stock car races all over the country. On Friday, I will walk onto a plane for the first time since November 2012. I used to write columns. Now I write blogs. I used to write …
Little Things
In the baseball season to date, my favorite moment occurred when the Red Sox’ Mookie Betts legged out an infield hit and took off for second base, like a kid in tee-ball who just runs and runs and runs until he’s either out or scores. Betts took off for second because he saw that no …
A Nice Way to Relax
Two rows below sat a man who once was my boss. Two seats to my right was a sportswriter I didn’t know who was familiar with me. “Excuse me. You’re not Monte Dutton, are you?” “Sadly, yes. Nice to meet you.” Next to me was an old friend, one I’ve known since college. It was …
The Way I Do, Part One
When I was young / I went off to college / But I flunked out ‘cause I could not pass no test / My old man barely made it past fifty / And I reckon that I’ll follow his footsteps / But it ain’t gon’ be bad health that’s gonna kill me / It won’t …
Changes Ten by Ten
Fifty years ago, my father voted for and bet on Barry Goldwater, not to win the election but to carry South Carolina. He won. Goldwater lost. The election, not South Carolina. NASCAR’s greatest hero at the time, “Fireball” Roberts, was horribly burned at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He lived for more than two months, and every …
A Friendly Background
No afternoon baseball today. I pay to get all the games on TV, mainly because I love the Boston Red Sox and live in South Carolina, but I often use other teams’ games as a soothing background for writing, reading, playing guitar and sketching. I look up when I hear yelling, and then I watch …
Facebook Friends, Part Four
This one sat off to the side for a while, mainly because I was working against a deadline with “High, Wild and Handsome.” This one also required some reacquaintance. Reorientation. I had to get my head back in it. You can “page down” a while and find the first three parts. Jerry Lennart set …
Those Fracking Cliches
“Let’s see if the Braves can exact some revenge on the Seattle Mariners.” I just heard Chip Caray say this. Seldom is anything “exacted” except revenge. Seldom is anything wreaked except havoc, and if havoc is in town (or, oh, on a page), it is invariably wreaked. Mothers are seldom sick without also being …
Going on a Tour
Oh, what a busy day. I’m leaving on a long trip in the morning. I’ve got lots on the plate. I’ve got to visit some loved ones this afternoon because it got postponed Sunday, which is why I was cutting the grass yesterday. I’ve filed my monthly sales tax, balanced my accounts, paid pills, caught …
Nightrider's Lament 