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James Gargano

Professor Speckman

EN219

19 November 2019

Not Your Ordinary Game

1st Inning

April 19, 1999 at 1:36pm at Good Samaritan Hospital is where my love for baseball originated. I

was laying there with my mother in her arms while my dad and grandpa were holding up

Chicago Cubs mini baseballs and baseball bats so that I could realize I was going to be Cubs fan

right as I was born if I didn’t understand why. My parents had my two sisters before me, and

they would be lying if they said they weren’t hoping their third and last kid was a boy. My sisters

weren’t very interested in sports and that crushed my father. He wanted to be able to come home

from work every day and play catch with his children. I was going to be the one that would

finally play catch with him.

2nd Inning

The silver Lincoln pulls up onto the driveway glistening in the sun. I am sitting on the doorstep

waiting for my dad to get out of the car and throw me whiffle balls so I can swing till my heart
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desires. My dad got out of the car and I sprinted up to him asking if he could pitch whiffle balls

to me as if he didn’t already know I was going to ask this question. I grab the big red plastic bat,

the bucket of whiffle balls, and the bases. We always played baseball in the backyard because

when he hit in the front yard, I sometimes would hit cars passing by on the street. My dad always

wanted to challenge me, so he never lobbed the ball to me while he was pitching. I had to earn

my home runs and I sure did. Even at the age of three I had to focus as hard as I could to hit a

whiffle ball hard. At the time I would get frustrated but looking back on it I am glad he did that

because I had to learn how to battle through adversity before I even knew what adversity was.

3rd Inning

I stepped up to the plate at Patterson Elementary for my first baseball game ever. I was feeling a

little bit nervous, but more so anxious to play in a baseball game against another team. It was

only tee-ball, but it was still my first real shot at experiencing competition within sports in my

lifetime. I kept my eye on the ball and took a huge hack at the baseball lying on top of the tee.

The ball exploded off the bat and went soaring into the sky. I thought I had hit this ball 500 feet,

but it was probably about 50 feet. After I hit the ball, I was mesmerized by the ball flight and

then I quickly realized I had to still run to first base. I took off running but only made it to first

base because of the late start. My mom and dad had the biggest smile when I looked over

towards them. Now that I think about it, they might’ve just been laughing at the fact that I almost

forgot to run but I also know that they were proud of me.
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4th Inning

I had graduated from tee-ball and I was ready to take on coach pitch. Still not regular baseball

but at least the ball was being thrown to home plate rather than it sitting there on a platter. My

team name was the Blue Jays and all my friends were on it that lived in the neighborhood. We

were all very motivated and invested in the game of baseball even at such a young age. The team

that we were facing were called the Astros and they had a bunch of really talented four-year-old

as well. Yes, we were only four years old. I know it sounds crazy that I am talking about a

potential rival team when we are in pre-school still, but I wanted to win no matter how old I was.

Their coaches were very intense and very arrogant to say the least.

It was very aggravating, and I had my first experience with “Bush League” in baseball. “Bush

League” is when a player or team disrespects the game of baseball in a negative manner. I

realized I hated losing more than I even liked to win and I especially hated losing to people who

were going to disrespect the game. Nonetheless, they beat us by about ten runs, and they didn’t

let up. They were running up the score like there was no tomorrow and we couldn’t do anything

about it. I had never been so upset after a game. It didn’t really matter that we lost, but it

mattered to me that we lost in that way. I felt like they didn’t respect the game and that bugged

me because baseball was everything to me.

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5th Inning

Finally, I was able to get my first crack at little league baseball. This would be the first time I

would be facing an actual pitcher throwing the baseball. This was a HUGE deal. I was going to

be able to feel like the professionals that I watched on television. I mean not really, but still.

Also, this was going to be the first time that I would play a game on a real field. The fields that

we used in tee-ball and coach pitch were just a grass area and bases would be put on the ground

to form a diamond.

This year there was going to be a dirt infield and a grass outfield just like how the professionals

played. My teams name this season was the Braves and I always imagined I was Chipper Jones,

Hall of Fame third basemen for the Atlanta Braves. He was the type of teammate who always

picked up their teammates when they were down, hustled on and off the field, and played the

game the way it was meant to be played. My dad always told me that I couldn’t control the hits,

runs, and calls on the field, but I could always control my hustle and attitude. I still to this day

follow that guidance because some days you might play well, but you can always try your best. I

always strived to play like that every time I stepped foot on the diamond.

6th Inning

My alarm clocked let out a loud buzzing noise on this Sunday morning and I woke up as anxious

as I ever have. It was only seven in the morning, but I knew I had travel baseball tryouts at eight
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o’clock. I had played only one year of little league and I was now going to be trying out for a

travel team. The team I was trying out for was called the “Wheatland Ducks” and I went into the

tryout with an open mind because I hadn’t ever been to a try out before. I knew that I had a good

feel for the game of baseball, but I didn’t really know how I stacked up against other talented

players yet. The tryout started off with a 60-yard dash which looked really far. I know that

sounds funny to say, but seriously when was I ever going to have to run 60 yards in a baseball

game?

I thought it was a little strange we had to do this, but nonetheless I sprinted as fast as I could

once the coach running the tryout dropped his hat signaling me to go. Next, we took ground balls

from shortstop and threw them over to first base. Some of the kids at the try out had some good

arm strength and I was amazed. A lot of these players seemed like they were very advanced for

only being nine years old. After the fielding drills, we finally took batting practice. My favorite

part about baseball is and always be hitting. There is no better feeling in the world then hitting a

baseball perfectly on the barrel. When the ball makes contact on the sweet spot you literally

won’t feel anything but the trampoline effect of the ball flying into the high sky.

On this day, I took one of the best rounds of batting practice I ever had, and I was ecstatic. The

try out ended and I felt good regarding my status on making the team. I still didn’t want to get

too ahead of myself, but I felt I was one of the best players there. About a week later, my family

phone started to ring, and it was a message from Coach Kolzow notifying me that I had made the
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team. I knew this was a huge accomplishment, but I knew what lied ahead was going to be more

important. This was only going to be a steppingstone to my baseball career.

7th Inning

Football season had just ended, and it was finally the time of the year that mattered most,

baseball season. Well, not yet. It was only February, but it was baseball try outs at least so it was

getting to be that time. This was a big day for me because I finally would have the opportunity to

represent my school on the baseball field. I had obviously been playing baseball my whole life to

this point, but it was always travel baseball. I was never able to represent my school and that was

something I truly thought was special. Going to Neuqua Valley High School was a pleasure but

there was also around 4,500 kids that went to the school and about 200 showed up for freshman

baseball tryouts.

Only about 40 kids total were going to make the freshman team. The tryout was inside because it

was still currently snowing outside. The gymnasium was packed to the brim and I was worried

that coaches were going to miss out on seeing me play. I tried not to worry about and just played

the game like I always did. If I went about my business the way that I was supposed to then I felt

like everything would take care of itself. The first day of tryouts consisted of playing catch,

throwing the ball across the gym as hard as we could so they could get a velocity on our throws,

and then hitting tennis balls. I wasn’t a fan of hitting tennis balls, but we had to because of the

safety restrictions inside the gymnasium. After the first day of the tryout the sophomore coach
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came up to me and informed me that I would be trying out with the sophomore team now this

week. I was in shock at first, but I was so excited to be able to possibly play on the sophomore

baseball team as a freshman. The next day at tryouts I went over to the other side of the

gymnasium with the older players and I was a bit nervous. Everyone was staring at me when I

walked up to the tryout as if I was in the wrong spot and was lost. Once we got started with the

tryout everyone knew I wasn’t lost. I wasn’t ever a cocky player, but I played with confidence

because if you don’t believe in yourself then how are you supposed to exceed? You can’t.

The next three days went on and on Friday they posted the list at the end of the tryout who made

each team. My name was with the sophomore team and I felt so relieved. I was stressing

throughout the week a lot and I was glad it was settled. I already knew that I was going to make

the freshman team, but I would have been disappointed if I didn’t take advantage of playing on

the sophomore team when it was right in front of me. I made the team, but I still had unfinished

business. I had to prove that I deserved this opportunity and prove everyone wrong that thought

differently.

8th Inning

It was early July in Atlanta, Georgia and my travel team the 29ers were playing in the Perfect

Game World Wide Baseball Association (PGWWBA) World Series. The sun was shining bright

as ever, and I sweat was dripping down my hair into my eyes creating the most uncomfortable

burning feeling anyone could imagine. I was extremely annoyed, but it was going to be one of
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the best weeks of my life, so I had to tough it out. At the time I didn’t know that, but I just had to

let my game do the talking and things would take care of themselves.

There were over 300 teams in this tournament and about the same number of college

baseball/professional baseball scouts there as well. I knew going into this tournament that it

would be a very good week if I just relaxed and played the game the way that I do, but at the

same time I wanted to do something spectacular to wow the scouts. The week had gone on and

my team was 4-2 in pool play which meant that we were not going to make bracket play. Even

though we weren’t going to make bracket play I had a chance to make a name for myself on this

warm Saturday night under the lights. I batted lead off for my team and the first pitch I saw I

smoked into the left-center gap. The next at bat I had a few innings later, I did the same thing. I

was in the zone and nobody was going to be able to take me out of it. I was determined to be the

best player on the field and there were going to be no questions asked. The game ended and we

lost in a close game 5-4. After the game we talked as a team and my coach explained that we

wouldn’t be advancing to the next round, but he was super proud of how we battled against very

tough competition throughout the whole week.

I was walking to my car with my dad after I was done packing my baseball bag, and I was

stopped by two coaches from the University of Dayton. On July 4, 2016 I received my first

scholarship offer. It felt surreal. I was speechless. I knew that I had the skills to play at the next

level, but when I was granted the promise it was unbelievable. A week later, I traveled to

Indianapolis for a tournament and I received another scholarship offer. I honestly didn’t really
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know anything about this school but once I visited, I felt right at home. The coach of Butler had

just gotten the job that same week and he said this was one of the first times he had been on

campus as well which amazed me. The most ironic part of the visit is that I barely was able to

see any of the facilities because he didn’t have access to the buildings since, he was so new. He

felt bad but I honestly didn’t care at all. I knew that this was going to be my home. I traveled

back to my house in Naperville, Illinois after the visit and a week later I made a verbal

commitment to be a Butler Bulldog. I felt relieved. This is what I was working towards. This

was my dream. It was all coming together now.

9th Inning

It was a perfect spring day in Nashville, Tennessee and it was my first game of my senior year of

high school. This was going to be my last season being apart of the Wildcats and it would be the

end of an era. We took care of business in Nashville and we kept it going the entire season. We

found ourselves heading into the playoffs with a 35-1 record. We were the best team that this

high school has ever had, and our coach knew it. We breezed through the first round, but the

second round was a dog fight. We were favored in the Regional final but if you were to watch

the first four innings you would’ve never known. We found ourselves behind 4-0 and this was

new to us. We hadn’t been losing in the fourth inning once the whole year except for the one

game we had loss prior. I stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and there

were two men on base. I could open this game up and give us some life. Next pitch, I laced a
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double down the left field line and the game was 4-2 in the blink of an eye. The batter after me

hit an absolute missile over the left field wall the pitch after that and the game was knotted at 4-4

just like that.

We kept it rolling and ended up hoisting up the regional championship trophy that day. The next

two rounds were a breeze for us and now we were in the Super-Sectional final which would

advance us to the State Championship if we won. The game was played at a minor league

stadium and the atmosphere was electric. 8,000 people there in attendance and I was locked in. I

was hungry for a State Championship and that’s the only thing I cared about. The game didn’t go

the way we wanted it to. St. Lawrence was a powerhouse and they were going to advance to the

State Championship. We kept it close the whole game, but they prevailed with a 5-3 victory. I

was crushed. My last game as a Neuqua Valley Wildcat was over. I would never put that jersey

on again in my whole life. I hugged and cried in my parent’s arms after accepting defeat in my

last high school game ever. It was over. Well it wasn’t. The best part was about to start. I know

this is the 9th inning but this game is going to go extra innings. This isn’t your ordinary game.

10th Inning

I stepped onto campus in late August and I couldn’t wait to get college career started already. I

finally met my teammates and I was a bit nervous meeting all the guys considering I was just a

freshman. Now I am a junior on the team, and I have two great seasons under my belt, and I have

two more that will be even better. I am blessed to be apart of this game and it has done wonders
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for me. Even though this is the last inning for right now, there will be more innings to come. I

am not done, and I don’t plan on being done with this game. I am hoping I can pass down my

love for this game as it was once passed down to me. I am saying goodbye to this piece for right

now, but tomorrow, the next day, and the one after that will keep the game going.