You’ll have to forgive me for the moment, but I need to tell all these kids to get off my lawn.
I had the very great honor and pleasure this past weekend of attending the 40th reunion of the Notre Dame High School state championship baseball team that I was lucky enough to be a part of. I was a sophomore catcher who specialized in shagging balls in practice and warming up pitchers in the bullpen during games – and it was one of the greatest experiences of my youth.
Barry CourterThe takeaway from this past weekend is that we all feel that way. We had 15 players and one coach make it to the reunion, which is a great number by all accounts. I’m not really surprised because we all liked each other.
We are all also extremely proud of the fact that we are the only baseball state champion in the school’s 150-year history. In 1979, baseball in Tennessee was played in only three divisions, and there was no public/private school split. You had to compete against and beat some very good teams to win it all – and that, too, makes it special.
The thing I was struck with after spending almost six hours with the guys was that we all remember the same stories and pretty much tell them the same way. We all remember that Styx – played on an eight-track tape player – provided the soundtrack for our rides to games, and that one of our star pitchers constantly left his glove on top of his truck as he drove off. The coaches learned to be last out of the parking lot to pick it up.