August 1, 2010
Whoosh
Date: Spring 1988
Location: Wyckoff NJ
Description: I was always a high ball hitter, and a pretty good one at that. While I only ever had one career home run (caught on tape the only time my sister brought a video camera to the ballpark), I was a good line drive hitter and would estimate I was probably around a .280 guy. However, I had trouble laying off the high heat. This year, my fifth grade, was particularly troublesome. As a lowly fifth grader, I had to contend against higher (and more notably bigger) sixth graders, and it was a struggle to keep up. This wasn't one of my best years, particularly when you consider that I was wearing the smallest pants available (seen in the picture doubled over because they were too long) and had my cap on under my helmet (also pictured) so it would come close to fitting. Being that tiny would have been a good benefit had I considered my strike zone would also be reduced. But alas, if the pitch was between the waist and the neck, I was swinging away. (Note how I somehow managed to swing TOO HIGH.) The year before, my team was 1-10, made it to the playoffs (because every team did), and won the next three games including the championship. Needless to say that didn't sit well with people. I bring that up to make people forget about my lousy swing and miss.