BALLS

Maybe it's because yesterday was nice weather. Maybe it's because Spring Training is up and running but I was thinking how much easier ball terminology is now.

Today, the little one is a "hardball" or a "baseball" and the one at the park leagues is a "softball".

When and where I grew up, a "softball" was the 16 inch "Clincher" variety (no gloves), what is now called a softball was a "12" and a hardball was a "league" (I guess short for "Major League") Occasionally, we would play a game resembling baseball with a rubber ball called a "'deen", short for "Spaldeen". The type of ball was important because the bike ride two each field was about two and a half miles from school and the ball dictated which field we played on. Didn't want to waste energy riding to the wrong field.

The conversations would go like this. "Play at three." "League or 12?" "Church (Street Field) is still wet. Can't play league. 12" (Meaning we had to play at another park, too small for hardball but OK for the middle sized softball). "OK, I'll bring a couple of 'deens in case it rains and and we have to go to Stinson (an elementary school with a hard surfaced playground)".

Thinking about how complicated the ball and georgraphy terminology was reminds me how simple the life was. None of us even owned a bike lock. No bike, bat, ball or clothing item was ever stolen. We would be completely unsupervised on bikes from two in the afternoon till supper time and I never once remember parents coming by the field to check on us. Heck, most of the time, the parents didn't know which of three fields we would occupy. No one was abducted. No one was not selected to play or mocked. There were maybe three inconsequential fist fights in the three or four years we all did that. One of the fields we played on was completely private property belonging to a construction company and the owners actually encouraged us to play there, rather than running us off for liability reasons.

The balls were complicated. The play was simple. No microfiber uniforms, no umpires. We just played.

I think you have to go to Cuba to find that now. Even the Dominican Republic has all the baseball down to organized boxes.

It might not have been "better". I had no perspective, being a kid. All I knew was, the "leagues," the "12's", the "softballs" and the "'deens" and the mobility of my bike sure added a lot of pleasure to my young life.