The game of baseball is a love affair and not just a sport. I am one of those that hold the game sacred. I am an old-school guy and am still grumbling about the designated hitter. “If the pitcher ain’t hitting, it ain’t baseball.” I had heard an idea from a college coach who talked about situations with the name of a player. Sometimes they were bonehead plays but mostly they highlighted something the play did well. I had my chance to use this technique for one year. Our upper field is a pathway for one of the local fire stations and they would often pass by and players would wave. One beautiful afternoon we were playing. I was in the dugout watching and it was a lazy fly ball into center. I had a kid that was a quick and talented center fielder. It was headed right at him so I wasn’t worried. I turned around to change a couple of players and get them into the game on offense. As I looked back my center fielder, Canales was diving at the ball and just barely made the catch. When he came in I asked why he had trouble. He looked at me and seriously said, “I was watching the firetruck coach.” This was one of those moments when I realized that we should not pay attention but I knew they were just big kids. From that day forward anytime a firetruck came by, we called a Canales and just waited till they passes. The firefighters noticed it and after a while, the umpires began to realize but they never told us to hurry up. That is the charm of baseball that you don’t see in a lot of sports. Next time a firetruck goes by, call a Canales and wave!
