A day at Baseball City in Florida

A few years ago, there was an amusement park in Central Florida called Baseball City. It had all kinds of rides, a ballpark, games and baseball equipment. It was pretty much all about baseball. With my son Andy involved in Pony League at the time, we thought it would be a great place to spend the day. While we were there, we ran into a friend named Greg (once a minor league pitcher) and his son Brett.

 

As we walked by the batting cages, we came upon an area where you could see how fast you could pitch a baseball. For a dollar, they gave you three baseballs to test your speed with their radar gun. Our 13-year sons went first, and both threw about 64 mph. Then Greg pitched and hit 86-mph. Wow! I knew I couldn’t top Greg, but I was sure I could beat the boys.

 

I took my position on the mound, rolled the baseball in my hand, took a deep breath and let fly with all my might. Holy Monkey!!! The pain in my arm was so incredible that I saw stars. (Not Derek Jeter  or A-Rod, the kind in the sky with Saturn & Mars). The speed came up as 59 mph. 59!! You’ve got to be kidding. All that pain and only 59mph!? My son said, ‘you’ve still got two throws left.’ With that, I tossed him the balls and said, ‘Why don’t you try to improve on your 64?’ One stinger that day was plenty for me.

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