Читать книгу One Season in the Sun онлайн

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A few years after the season when Bakenhaster, Bennett, and Hertz all had their brief time in the major leagues, I would try out for the team at my high school. Because I couldn’t run and couldn’t hit, I decided I was a pitcher. But, on the first day of practice, when the coach gave me a chance to show him my ability on the mound, I couldn’t throw a strike. Every pitch was what they call a lollipop—a slow, high-arching throw to the catcher. The next day, when the coach posted the names of the players he was cutting after only a single practice, my name was on the list with one other boy. I have since come to see that the coach saved both of us time. No matter how much he loved the game, there is no point in a boy who can’t play at all taking time away from the boys who were faster, who could throw the ball with speed and accuracy, who could hit the ball to the deepest part of the field.

That afternoon, however, seeing my name on the sheet of paper tacked to a bulletin board in the school hallway, telling me I couldn’t play and would most likely never be good enough to play, I was heartbroken.