When Jason’s dad taught him how to hit,
\nthe boy insisted on reversing his batting grip,
\ntop hand where the bottom should be.
\nThe boy complained that the other way,
\nthe right way, as his dad angrily repeated,
\nwasn’t comfortable, and constantly missed
\nthe ball when not batting cross-handed,
\noften on purpose, his dad thought.
\n"You’ll break your wrist swinging that way,"
\nhis dad would shout, shaking his head.
\nIn Jason’s third little league game, he hit
\na screaming liner to the left field corner,
\nbut broke his wrist in the process.
\n"Always listen to your dad," his father,
\na lifetime .200 hitter, said at the hospital.
\nIt was a painful, career ending injury.
\nBut Jason really got into swimming
\nat the rehab and eventually got
\na scholarship to UCLA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Jason’s dad taught him how to hit, the boy insisted on reversing his batting grip, top hand where the bottom should be. The boy complained that the other way, the right way, as his dad angrily repeated, wasn’t comfortable, and constantly missed the ball when not batting cross-handed, often on purpose, his dad thought. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem-2","tag-poem"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2339,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2339","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":0},"title":"Memorabilia","author":"Rick Young","date":"January 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Dan collected face masks of dead goalies and was known to steal some sneaks occasionally. People had many fetishes in Beaverton. His pal Andy had a vial of Blazer sweat and a headband he claimed was Bill Walton's. A gang of the guys got together some nights and traded wristbands,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2177,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2177","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":1},"title":"Mickey Charles Mantle (’31-’95)","author":"Rick Young","date":"October 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a boy, around eight, nine and ten, I had a good imagination, but just one good friend. And he, my friend, was Mickey Mantle, needed dad menage, a summertime mirage at my side, out against the garage. My grip, exact upon the small bat handle, I'd run\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":122,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=122","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":2},"title":"Charm School Bully","author":"Rick Young","date":"November 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"He slapped the smile off the face of the etiquette boy. And batted his batting eyelashes. His \"Pardon me, sir\" was more like a slur and always resulted in clashes. He even learned how executing a bow could be used as a martial attack. And God help you, son, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bully.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bully.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bully.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Bully.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":464,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=464","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":3},"title":"Baseball Birthdays: June ninth","author":"Rick Young","date":"June 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill Virdon was an outfielder and manager of note. He hit the ball that bounced up and hit Kubek in the throat. Roy Smalley was a a shortstop with the Cubs, the Braves and Phils. He had a shortstop son named Roy. It just gives me the chills. Dave Parker\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":473,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=473","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":4},"title":"Baseball Birthdays: June fifteenth","author":"Rick Young","date":"June 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Billy Williams had a sweet swing, mostly as a Cub. They never made the playoffs with him. Therein lies the rub. Dusty Baker managed twenty years and played nineteen. Was in the on deck circle when Hank hit seven-fifteen. Lance Parrish was an all star catcher, mostly with Detroit. Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":463,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=463","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":5},"title":"Baseball Birthdays: June eighth","author":"Rick Young","date":"June 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Van Lingle Mungo is the all-time baseball name. To me he'd be an all star if he never played a game. Dell Ennis was a menace. Yes, the guy could really hit. His Phillies homer record lasted up until Mike Schmidt. Mark \"The Blade\" Belanger won eight gold gloves with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poem"","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}