When I was a kid i crossed the Rio Grande........illegally....trying to get into Mexico. I waded a wide but low stream with a crew of 6 other "migrants". We paid off , lets say a coyote , to show us the sandbars and lend us his donkey for the somewhat arduous walk to the nearest cantina. There we had mescal from a jug till we couldn't discern reality from the Yosemite Sam cartoons playing on the black and white TV above the bar. It was going good, the locals loved the gringoes spending money......till my girlfriend snuck a souvenir shot glass into her fannypack and the bouncer went to wrestle it away. Chaos ensued. Three went for the door and the river, two stood up to the angry local mob; my girlfriend dodged the bouncer and joined me and Mikey Perez in a ....well Mexican standoff. They circled menacingly or the room was just spinning . It didn't look so good. Then out of nowhere the bartender , an older seņora, pulled out a shot gun and blew a hole...another hole, of many holes in the cantina ceiling and just laughed a crazy laugh. Yosemite Sam said something about the rabbit getting fried and we hightailed it out all the way back to Texas. I think there was another gun shot. I lost track of that girlfriend but managed to keep the shot glass. This is not like the 60+ game today at the Legion. Only Ted Poleto kind of reminds me of Yosemite Sam, and Freddy Pigeon the bartender.
As a former Texas boy myself, I loved John's fine tale and his sly and terrific reference at the end to Albany.
It leads me to say, in my best former Texas drawl, bet y'all can't wait till you turn 60.
Now, you'd think getting out of bed at 8 a.m. to play a 10 a.m. game at Legion field is hard on ancient bones, and it is, but then you have, as John suggested, good times as if you'd had a few shots of mescal. Lots of laughter to go with lobbing pitches. Suddenly old bones feel juiced and jangly.
Freddy the bartender helps that along, shouting from right field to his "Rojo" teammates and to the "Azules" hunkered in their dugout, "Hey! You know what's good about baseball at our ages?" Eight heads turn, along with umpire Mike Eplite, and batter Ted Poleto, everyone primed to hear. "You got excuses for everything that happens," ..pause.
"And they're all true!"
More laughter.
Then it stops.
Heads nod.
Ten minutes later, Mike pointed to a black and blue mark on his left bicep. "See that?" he said, pouring cool water from a water bottle on it. It was a big mark. So was the bicep. "I caught a foul ball in the crook of my elbow. I never had that happen before."
Yep. That's over-60 ball. Just wait till y'all get here. -Mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Sunday 15th of July 2018 01:32:39 AM
I don't know what Mike and John are talking about LOL..... Seriously coming home to NY and playing ball with the guys from CDMSBL is what I care about when I am able to get home during the summer...Thanks to Tommy for getting me a waiver to play and to John Reel who told me to pitch if i wanted to play,...that was tough!! I had a blast and Wendy made a ESPN catch for sure and Freddy still hits like he is 25.... Great to see some of the guys i can only remember playing against or with 25 years ago and we are still out there....For the love of the game thanks tp5
