THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO
Hutch Smith
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Opening Day
It’s a unique collection of emotional reactions that take over when experiencing the first major league baseball game of your career. And it can distinctly vary from teammates to teammates. Like asking if the salsa is too hot or if it’s too cold outside. It’s a different thing for everyone. I’ve heard from the “old pros” that the experience can be just as overwhelming but possibly dulled down a bit due to many times on that freshly painted field. I never thought I’d be here. I mean I dreamed I’d be here but wasn’t sure it was going to ever happen. When I was back home with my family we were all into baseball. Heck we didn’t have a choice, it was in our makeup, it was the only thing we knew. We couldn’t do anything different, maybe softball but that’s as varied as it got.
I’m feeling like a horse that’s not broken it yet! I can’t believe this was going to be my first game. Am I ready for this? I’m not sure. I’ve been in games before though not very many and never in the major leagues, never in a professional stadium like this one, not in front of this many people. I’m so sparkling clean to the game that thick, dark oil wouldn’t even get ready to play. I think I have a pretty tough exterior and I’m sure that will get broken down too, exposing my softer inside to the players. Although I’m not sure if that’s such a good thing showing my softer side to this group of hard playing team members. I’m worried because the game that I love, the only game I know is a team sport but there’s always that moment, that one instance that it’s all up to you.
That moment when all you have to do is catch, hold on it and not drop it. How hard is that? I’ve done it before, I can do it again right? My teammates keep razzn’ me because I’m so stiff and nervous. Calling me “Rookie” and “Gamer”. I’m sure these nicknames will stick and I’ll never be able to get rid of them. Always be attached to my name like white on rice. Even when I’m the “old pro” status I’m still have those darn nickname. If I even make it that long. Someone saw something in me and picked me over a larger lineup of equality good or even better candidates. Maybe it was my price tag, maybe someone saw some potential in me that I don’t see myself yet. I think that someone just happened to baseball great Mark Christman of all people.
With all the things I’m worried about, I do get to play hand in hand with him. Not many can say that. He’s been playing since 1938 and has the experience that hopefully will rub off on this rookie. Since we will be playing so close together I hope I make him proud. I hope I can prove to him that I have staying power and I will play hard for him. I hope I don’t wear out too quickly. Maybe even sync up and get a rhythm going together. Making him feel that I’m irreplaceable and became like his second skin.
My Teammates
Along with Mark Christman I have a rare collection of characters that make up our team. Unique as their names but similar in our collective goal to play a good game and help the players succeed. It’s like my teammate Maynard “Spider” Schwarz, he has a nickname that has stuck like a wet noodle on a tiled kitchen wall. Spider is strapped in build yet wiry in frame. Although somewhat guarded and protective of the players, Spider still gets messed with because of how jumpy and easily spooked Spider can be. At times I guess that’s because he has been beat up a bunch. He’s now an overly cautious and it shows. It shows every time he gets in the game. Then there’s D. Andem who is a rookie also and is about as stitched up as I am this first
game. Maybe even more. He also comes from a large family with a long history of baseball as well so D. Andem has a lot to live up to. He is the type of player that is easily replaceable so he has to make an impression and quick. The other reason D. Andem is so stitched up is that the umpire is extremely critical and watches his type very closely. We all have seen the routine of that continuous removal of teammates (like him) from the game and replacement with newer, fresher ones. It’s unfair but it is the way it is in the game and none of us can do anything about it. I come in contact with D. Andem a lot and he can be quite a pill to deal with. It’s hard because he’s there for a quick second when he’s off again.
Sometimes he just passes right by me and I wind up chasing after him. Some days I don’t even know if I’ll catch him with him being up in the air a great deal of the time. Two other characters are We have on our team are The Richardson Twins. They seem to be stepped on and kicked around more than a bunch of us. It could be because there is a vinegary stench follows them around and that the pair is always sweaty and caked with dust and dirt like an ill behaved child in his Sunday best walking down a sidewalk spotted with puddles just calling his name. The Richardson Twins are always laced up and ready to go in spite of the fact that they can’t help getting the runaround by the players.
The “old pro” of the team is Albert Spald. Golly this one has gone through the ringers many times. They’ve had to patch him up a few times although it doesn’t show unless you look really close and then what’s found is the wear and tear of all the games played in the past. This has given Albert Spald character and uniqueness. He’s use to the game, knows the routine and has settled into it. He has been hung out to dry numerous times however enjoys it at this point is his career. He enjoys just being out there in the sun and flapping in the breeze so to speak. Albert Spald is out of place anywhere else but in the game, even out of place if he were put on another team. He’s not like me, D. Andem or even Rich Bradsby who can get passed on from team to team and have a better chance of fitting in.
Unique to our team is that we have Hillie Bradsby as a trainer who is married to our teammate Rich Bradsby. They fit well together except Hillie Bradsby is always “fitting well” with others if you know what I mean. Rich Bradsby is hard and solid as well as sturdy and doesn’t get worn out like some of us. Rich Bradsby is long and tall, while Hillie Bradsby is stumpy and round. She slips in and out of the game and you’ll never see her in action. She’s more on the sidelines helping the players get stronger which makes Rich Bradsby crack when she’s not around him. He has never swung at her although swings at the air a lot and on occasion at D. Andem when they are in contact.
It’s a tough game I tell you and it calls for a full range of unique teammates that all have their job to do and are easily replaced and not always acknowledged and created for making that home run, for protecting a player from a hardball or even holding onto that ball and getting that out. In the end, it’s the players that get all the credit while me and my teammates get packed up and thrown in a duffel bag. When the press comes to do interviews or a pretty lady wants to give her congratulations of a game well played, we’re nowhere to be seen. So I’m going to play my best this first game of the season and try not to come unstitched.
TEAMMATE NAMES Based on the vintage, and some current, baseball equipment manufacturers, owners, partners and the like. The Glove: Hutch Smith Goldsmith and Hutch are two different name brands that made baseball gloves. The Catcher’s Mask: Maynard “Spider” Schwarz Schwartz Sporting Goods Company made the “Spider” model catcher’s mask in the 1940s and D&M who also made masks, founded by Mr. Jason F. Draper and John F. Maynard in the 1890s. The Baseball: D. Andem D&M (The Draper & Maynard Sports Equipment Co. ) was a brand of baseball, nicknamed “The Lucky Dog Kind”. The Cleats: The Richardson Twins Named after Richardson Company who made the cleats themselves, Wilson made the shoes. The Uniform: Albert Spald A.G. Spalding & Brothers made the jerseys back then and Albert Spalding founded the company in 1876. The Bat: Rich Bradsby Rich from Hillerich & Bradsby is the company that made bats during the time period the story takes place and is famous for producing the “Louisville Slugger” baseball bat. J. F. Hillerich and Frank Bradsby where the original owners and partners of the company. The Bat Weight Sleeve: Hillie Bradsby Again, Hillerich & Bradsby (see above)
COLOPHON Typefaces: Our Bodoni Written & Designed by: Jenny J Taylor Design Assistance: Fred Murrell & Massimo Vignelli Book Cover Design by: Jenny J Taylor & Jen Wisler Printing: Yellow Dog Printing Paper: Cougar Natural Text & Cover Class: RMCAD Visual Sequencing I, Summer 2013