Now and then: Nasty line drives up the middle on the first day of spring 1999

Now:  Old Elm Lawn

Then:  From a letter to Mom (Sunday, March 21, 1999)
With the beautiful weather yesterday, our thoughts turned to baseball. I took the boys to Dunham’s, a sports store, to buy Andy a new glove. His current one will be given to Eddie once it’s restrung. Andy also needed a pair of baseball cleats. The ones he wore last summer are a size 6. He now wears a size 9, but I bought him a size 10. There will probably be at least one shoe size of growth between now and August. Eddie also needed new baseball cleats – Andy’s old ones are too worn for hand-me-downs – which I hope he’ll also be able to use for soccer. After this shopping trip, we found ourselves an open baseball field at the old Elm Lawn schoolyard, just a few blocks from the house, and warmed up by throwing the ball around. Eddie no longer flinches when a ball is thrown at him. I threw batting practice to both boys, Andy quickly regaining a mid-season swing. He hit a few sharp line drives to left-centerfield that would have gone for extra-base hits in any of his games. Eddie was a little slow in getting around on the ball, all of his hits going to the right side. Andy volunteered to pitch to me. “Don’t swing hard, Dad,” he cautioned. Ever since my softball days in Oshkosh, I’ve been known for my nasty line drives up the middle. Andy’s has been on the receiving end of a couple of those, so he’s always a little gun shy when he pitches to me.