Honoring the Memory
When I was 15-years-old I played on a softball team that was a group of great friends.
Our shortstop, Danny Alff, was sadly struck by a car while riding his bike.
Man, I remember a lot about the days that followed. I recall my buddy, Al, who was kind of the captain of the Lions calling to break the news. A couple of days later, Al called again.
“Let’s do a benefit for Danny’s family.”
Our small town was great at helping people. We were just kids, but we worked hard to put it together. We ordered shirts, secured the park, got the other teams signed up, bought a trophy and printed and sold tickets.
We started the game, without a shortstop and I remember that the first couple of guys hit it in the hole. We were losing when we came to bat.
I remember thinking about Danny (and I still think of him every time I hear the Elton John song) when I got up to the plate. His Mom and Dad and sister were there. We had worked so hard, and we were all so sad.
I lined a single over 2nd.
Al was up next.
He hammered a ball over the fence at the town park. He’d never done that before in a game!
I had tears in my eyes as I rounded the bases.
Felt like God was on our side.
I thought of that on Saturday morning after reading about and watching the Angels honor their teammate, Tyler Skaggs, who died last week.
His birthday is 7/13.
The Angels scored 7 in the first and finished with 13 hits.
For good measure, their pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter.
The first combined no-hitter in the American League since:
07/13/91.
The day Tyler Skaggs was born.
If that doesn’t give you shivers, check yourself for a pulse.
Dee Gordon, a player for the Mariners said:
“If you don’t believe in God, I don’t know what to tell you.”
God didn’t have the Lions back way back in 1980.
We lost early in our tourney, but we were there to award the trophy to the team that won it.
They didn’t want it.
“The Lions were the winners today.”
Of course, we immediately handed it to Danny’s parents.
I saw Al a few weeks back.
“We were kids. You hit it over the fence at the park that day.”
“Yeah. I can’t explain that,” he said.
Me either.
Our shortstop, Danny Alff, was sadly struck by a car while riding his bike.
Man, I remember a lot about the days that followed. I recall my buddy, Al, who was kind of the captain of the Lions calling to break the news. A couple of days later, Al called again.
“Let’s do a benefit for Danny’s family.”
Our small town was great at helping people. We were just kids, but we worked hard to put it together. We ordered shirts, secured the park, got the other teams signed up, bought a trophy and printed and sold tickets.
We started the game, without a shortstop and I remember that the first couple of guys hit it in the hole. We were losing when we came to bat.
I remember thinking about Danny (and I still think of him every time I hear the Elton John song) when I got up to the plate. His Mom and Dad and sister were there. We had worked so hard, and we were all so sad.
I lined a single over 2nd.
Al was up next.
He hammered a ball over the fence at the town park. He’d never done that before in a game!
I had tears in my eyes as I rounded the bases.
Felt like God was on our side.
I thought of that on Saturday morning after reading about and watching the Angels honor their teammate, Tyler Skaggs, who died last week.
His birthday is 7/13.
The Angels scored 7 in the first and finished with 13 hits.
For good measure, their pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter.
The first combined no-hitter in the American League since:
07/13/91.
The day Tyler Skaggs was born.
If that doesn’t give you shivers, check yourself for a pulse.
Dee Gordon, a player for the Mariners said:
“If you don’t believe in God, I don’t know what to tell you.”
God didn’t have the Lions back way back in 1980.
We lost early in our tourney, but we were there to award the trophy to the team that won it.
They didn’t want it.
“The Lions were the winners today.”
Of course, we immediately handed it to Danny’s parents.
I saw Al a few weeks back.
“We were kids. You hit it over the fence at the park that day.”
“Yeah. I can’t explain that,” he said.
Me either.
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