There’s Nothing Better than Hitting a Baseball

I love this time of year and I hate this time of year. Fall brings with it beautiful weather  but it also brings an end to using one of my favorite things...The Batting Cage which closed Sunday for the season.  That's right, the Batting Cage. I love to frequent "The Cage" if for nothing else to prove to me that I can still hit.  I played baseball for over 20 years and loved every minute of it. So for me to go to the cage and hit baseballs just fires me up (even though I fractured my tibia with a foul ball off of my left leg two years ago).  It brings back memories of some great times in my youth and it's such a great stress reliever too.

I was told the fast pitch machine hurls baseballs at 78 to 80 miles per hour and I hit those pitches quite well if I may say so myself . Jamie Moyer's fastball in the majors this year was 80 mph so in my mind there's got to be a Major League Baseball team in need of my services somewhere (are you listening Yankees?).

To me it is infectious. I never lose the appeal to swing the bat and smack the horsehide. And when I hit it good, I still know it. It is funny to watch the faces of the Quincy Park District employees (usually kids) when I ask for tokens to get in the cage. They look at me with a face that says "Are you serious?"  I guess they think  there's no way he'll hit anything. Well, just Saturday I hit 92 of the 100 pitches I faced (and I took two pitches out of the strike zone).  Not bad for an "Ole Poop". Now I must wait until the spring when the Batting Cage opens up again to get back in there with a bat in my hand.

With a birthday coming up, I was asked by a friend just how long will I continue to go out to the Batting Cage? My answer was..."I may not be able to swing but come out and watch me bunt when I am in my 80's".