A Father’s Day Salute

I suppose this is the perfect time to thank my father for turning me on to baseball, for taking me to Fenway Park when I was a kid, and for not only teaching me how to play the game, but also how to appreciate the game.  I remember the time when I was younger when my dad and I were watching a Red Sox/Yankees game on the Saturday Game of the Week.  A Red Sox batter whom I don’t recall slapped a grounder to the left side of the infield.  Third baseman Graig Nettles dove to his left but couldn’t reach it; shortstop Bucky Dent ranged far to his right, backhanded the ball and threw the runner out at first by a step.  My father started clapping.  I looked at him like he was made of cream cheese.  He hated the Yankees even more than I did.

When he saw the look on my face, he said, “watch the replay.”  So I did.  The reason he was clapping was because Nettles had the wherewithal to stay flat on the ground so Dent had a clear line of site to first base.  “That’s just good, heads-up baseball and it deserves applause no matter what uniform he’s wearing.”  I remembered that and to this day, I’ll applaud a good, heads-up play even if it’s made by an opponent.

But the reason I’m writing this is to applaud not just an individual, but a group of extremely generous and caring people.  As you know my friends Tony and Raelynn Hurt lost their daughter Cassidy to Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome on April 22.  On my birthday, May 3, I set up a memorial fund and asked Seamheads.com readers, friends, and family members to please make a donation to help Tony and Raelynn get through this tragedy.

Well, today is Father’s Day and though Tony and Rae are doing much better, I can only imagine how difficult the next 24 hours will be for him.  I’ve invited them over to spend the day with us and I’m hoping we can do everything in our power to make the day special, loving, and less painful.

One of the things I intend to do is write the Hurts a check for $1,250.  That’s how much we raised through your generous donations.  Thank you all so much.  As a token of my appreciation, I’d like to salute those of you who contributed to this worthy endeavor.  Happy Father’s Day!

( In alphabetical order )

Cara Adams
Mary Jane Bowen
John Coppinger
Fantistics Fantasy Sports
Jan Finkel
Brenda Hanke
Jeffrey Kutler
Ted Leavengood
Christine Lee
LSR Productions East LLC.
Michael Lynch III
Debra McClellan
Linda Miller
Sam Miller
Brian Moynahan
Patricia Norling
Curt Schilling
Seamheads.com
Pauline Slopek
Brian Spadora
Steve Steinberg
Matt Tarini
John Tuvey