{"id":980,"date":"2024-01-04T01:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T01:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=980"},"modified":"2024-01-01T18:47:30","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T18:47:30","slug":"a-broken-heart-rain-delay-between-1st-and-2nd-innings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=980","title":{"rendered":"A Broken Heart [Rain Delay Between 1st and 2nd Innings]"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Broken Heart <\/span> [Rain Delay Between the 1st<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup> Innings]<\/p>\n

Before Detroit comes to bat for the second inning, the skies over Comiskey Park cloud up and the heavens empty.  The Umpire calls for a rain delay.  My Dad and I retreat to where it\u2019s dry under the Grandstands, and it\u2019s time for baseball stories.   Mine start with a heartbreak.<\/p>\n

\"one<\/a><\/p>\n

I was a pretty good ballplayer all through junior high with dreams of someday being a major leaguer.  Fall of my freshman year in high school I ran Cross-Country because my Mom didn\u2019t want me playing football and getting hurt.  I once ran the 1.9 mile course is nine minutes and thirty-six seconds, a pretty good time.  Basketball was not my best sport so I waited out the winter looking forward to the spring baseball season.  My high school had over 4,000 students so making the team was not a cinch, but I had no doubts.<\/p>\n

Photo:  A pitcher at age 2<\/p>\n

After three days of try-outs, the list of eighteen names was to be posted right before classes let out.  I raced to the gym bulletin board \u2026. but \u2026 but my name was not on the list!  I\u2019m crying as I read each name a second time \u2013 still no me.  Feeling all alone in the crowded hallway, the track coach touches me on the arm:  \u201cYou\u2019re coming out for track now, aren\u2019t you?\u201d  So that was it!  The track coach had told the baseball coach that I was a track man, not a baseball player!<\/p>\n

When I didn\u2019t go out for track, the baseball coach asked me to be on the team, but it was never the same.  I wasn\u2019t a starter and it was years before I enjoyed the game again.  Mostly I just didn\u2019t want to have anything to do with grown-ups, and instead started smoking, drinking and chasing girls.  Went to college in Minnesota and law school out east.  Didn\u2019t go to another White Sox game for ten years; hardly paid any attention to them in the standings.<\/p>\n

Back at Comiskey Park, the game\u2019s been called on account of rain.<\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Broken Heart  [Rain Delay Between the 1st and 2nd Innings] Before Detroit comes to bat for the second inning, the skies over Comiskey Park cloud up and the heavens empty.  The Umpire calls for a rain delay.  My Dad … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3126,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}