Baseball season is here......

Hey Guys,

The opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens is “It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times.”

This sentence best describes what is going to take place at the opening ceremonies of the 2009 Dixie Youth Baseball season at Collyer Park Saturday Morning.

It will be the best of times. It is springtime in the south. It is a time of renewal. It’s time to play America’s game. It’s baseball season. The grass will be green. The fields will be in tip top shape thanks to the hard work of Albert Wilson and Steve Patterson. The kids and parents will be excited about the start of another season of baseball at the ol’ ball park. It is indeed the best of times!

It will be the worst of times also. You see, my buddy Tommy Powell will not be there, well, maybe not in body but certainly in spirit. Tommy lived for this time of year. He worked long and hard on the fields, making sure they looked as close to miniature major league fields as he could. Just look around the park and you will see what I mean. He had major league style foul poles put in place. He worked hours upon hours for nothing making sure the grass was cut; the bathrooms were clean, that no trash or paper was lying around on the ground. He wanted the kids to love coming to the park and play baseball because he knew that if a kid got involved in playing baseball then there was a pretty good chance that that kid would not be involved in too much mischief. No matter how bad it might be at home for them, he wanted it to be a special time for them when they came to the ball park where they could forget their troubles and just be kids playing baseball. You see, my buddy Tommy loved baseball, and he also loved the kids who came through the Dixie Youth program, and the kids loved him.

He had a heart of gold. On the outside he might have looked like a tough little marine, but when it came to his kids at the ball park, and if you played Dixie Youth Baseball you were one of his kids, and if you were one of his baseball kids, he was a big ol’ softy. Time and time again I have seen a kid come in the office that had lost their hat, or socks, of glove and asked Tommy to help them. He might grunt a little about them needing to be more careful, but then he would get whatever they needed and send them on their way. You see, that was what he saw as his duty, he was to serve his kids and make sure they had whatever they needed so they could play baseball.

Well, Last month God must have decided that he needed a guy up in Heaven with Tommy’s talent to serve even the least of us as Jesus called the children, and someone who showed unconditional love to his beloved kids, so he called Tommy home. I like to think that Tommy is organizing a baseball league for the kids in Heaven, where all the kids have a glove, and nice uniforms, and everybody gets to play on fields as nice as Tommy made Collyer Park. That may not exactly be the way that the Preacher says that Heaven is, but I figure that God might just like to see a good baseball game once in a while, and who best to organize one but my buddy Tommy.

Later this week I will blog you the schedule for the opening of the 2009 Dixie Youth Baseball season and the ceremonies honoring the little Marine who loved his players and baseball so much. If you are a former player, coach, parent, or fan please make plans to be there Saturday Morning. It is going to be a very special time for all.

It’s indeed will be …… The best of times, and the worst of times.

God Bless!
The Big One