Rambling On About My Glory Days – Say It Ain’t So

A day that should be a great memory turned out to be one of my worst recurring nightmares.

The day began as a sweet dream with the annual Seattle Mariner family day. Mariner players’ families came on the field before the game. Kids could take some swings, run the bases and hang out with dad on the field. Getting pictures with the part of our family we had at the time (son Matt, wife Linda) on a major league field was awesome and it created a priceless memory.

It was like the movie Field of Dreams . From that movie you may recall how Moonlight Graham had one game at the major league level and that was enough for him. I know so many people that would give almost anything to have one game or one at-bat on a major league field. Well it does not always turn out to be a dream for everyone. It actually was more like a Diamond of Doom for me. Let me tell you about Moonlight Perconte.

The nightmare - after the families frolicked on the field, the Mariner wives played the media in a slow pitch softball game for charity. Now I wouldn’t say my wife is super athletic, but she does have a smoothness and grace about her athletic movements. When she swims and bowls, she looks good doing them, but not very explosive. She was exactly the opposite of me, for that matter. I was explosive, but never very smooth or graceful in any athletic endeavor. Before the game, I was giving her instructions and demonstrating how to swing the bat, being sure to tell her to watch the ball and to try to just make contact. I certainly didn’t want her to embarrass herself. My last words to her, and if you strikeout, don’t swear, throw the bat or argue with the umpire.

Wouldn’t you know it, in her only at-bat she lined a shot up the middle for a clean base hit. I was astonished. My next thought was, I hope she gets up to bat again. You see, I could probably live with someone who had a lifetime batting average on a major league field of .500, but to have to live with her owning a one thousand batting average would not be fun. Every time I want to embellish a little with people about my major league statistics, I have to look over to my wife knowing she never made an out on a major league field. It is forever in my dreams now:

Mariner Box score

Former major leaguer Jack Perconte is the author of The Making of a Hitter ( http://jackperconte.com ) and has a baseball instruction site that can be found at www.baseballcoachingtips.net . He has recently published his second book Raising an Athlete – How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport