Mortality

This is a tough subject to cover, and seems out of place for a baseball blog. I played another game yesterday, but unlike others I participated in this year I played without my knee pads. Regular readers to this blog will remember my freak accident from last year, which led to my decision to wear knee pads for the rest of the season, and into this year. Well, I forgot my knee pads o_O Imagine playing a team sport with your bad knee bouncing and jingling around as you run/sprint/hustle. To show there isn't a problem, I decided at the start of each inning to sprint from the dugout to left field before the coach knows what's what.

BOSOX catcher Jason Varitek announced his retirement earlier this year.

Well, as the old Bible proverb says, "The devil fools with the best laid plans". I knew I had to make the first catch, although I never thought I had to make it in the first inning! I was playing deep all game, so when the first line drive hit in my direction fell short, I had quite a distance to make up. Nevertheless, the ground was firm in that spot, so the run up was easy, and the diving catch was artistic at best ^_^ (I don't understand why the Canadian judge gave me a 5.7 on the dive o_O LOL) There was a problem, though: My knee was the first thing to touch the ground, so if it didn't bounce then it stung like magic for the rest of the game.

Baseball was very good to me. It helped me get back in shape, and gave me something to write about. I wrote for eight years, and baseball was an important part of my life during that time. I never imagined a time when baseball, like writing, would not be a part of my life, but during the fourth inning when I sprinted home from third base on a sacrifice fly thoughts about "hanging them up" entered my mind.

I don't want to quit playing, but at some point in my life, I will...and that sucks.