Last night, we attended a going away party for the Beckman's, who are moving to Dallas, TX, in a week or so. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the move because I only learned about it in an e-mail from Josh a few weeks ago. The decision to move happened reasonably quickly.
The party was great - hosted by Giles and Josephine Ward - and there were quite a few USN families in attendance. Nice people, one and all.
Shortly after we arrived at the party, Jude and I were talking to Lauren and reminiscing about their move to Nashville seven years ago and how we came to know one other. To my surprise, Lauren told us I was one of the first people they met in town and, of course, it was because of baseball and our Dodgers' team.
On a whim, Josh signed Benjy up for WNSL baseball as a seven year old and as luck would have it, he was assigned to my pre-formed Dodger team as a free agent. It was a fortuitous development, for sure, because I probably had a full roster or close to it. Perhaps the league saw that Benjy would be attending USN and assigned him to the Dodgers because JP attended USN. Or, perhaps it was dumb luck or maybe it was fate.
When I met Josh and Lauren that fall, I instantly liked them. Josh was a cardiologist and they had moved to Nashville from Boston for him to take a job at Vanderbilt. Big, gregarious, kind, always smiling, great sense of humor, and a big sports fan. My kind of guy. Lauren reminded me a lot of Jude. Great mother, accomplished profession, who managed to find that sweet spot of work/life balance.
It was good for Benjy, and Josh and Lauren, too, to meet other children and families, since they were new to town and Benjy was starting at a new school. It's always good to be part of a group, especially one as unique and close knit as our Dodgers family.
Initially, Benjy was a little behind most of the other boys on the Dodgers from a baseball standpoint but I immediately saw that he had a strong desire to improve and a love of playing the game, even at seven years of age.
I don't remember much about that fall season other than it was the boys' first season in machine pitch baseball and many of them struggled mightily, at least at first. I also remember the second half of the fall season was better than the first, as the boys adjusted to hitting baseballs from the machine.
That spring, Josh decided to play Benjy in a baseball league at McCabe's Park, a decision he quickly regretted (as he later told me). Bad coach, bad experience all the way around. The following spring, Josh reached out to me, somewhat sheepishly, and asked if I had a spot for Benjy on the Dodgers. Of course I did and Benjy played for me for the next several seasons, fall and spring.
Benjy improved markedly over the years. In fact, as I've said before - Benjy improved more than any boy I've ever coached. He was one of my two or three hardest working boys. Benjy isn't blessed with the most athletic ability but he's smart, great attitude, very coachable, and always works hard. All of that can take you a long way in baseball, and in life.
That's the lesson - or one of the lessons, anyway - I wanted the boys to learn from playing baseball with the Dodgers. Hard work pays off.
Over the years, Benjy (along with Cooper Allen) became my best bunter. Good hand-eye coordination. Benjy had the ability to lay a bunt down the first or third baseline to move runners over or, at times, to hustle down the first baseline for an infield hit. He took pride in being able to bunt - or so it seemed to me - and that made me very happy.
Benjy also became a reasonably versatile player and a good second baseman. I remember on more than one occasion leaving the field after an inning in the field to high five Josh in the stands after Benjy made a good play at second base on a grounder or a pop fly.
At some point during the beginning of the pandemic - at age 12, I think - Benjy drifted away for a time and didn't play baseball on the Dodgers. He is a year ahead of JP and played on the middle school baseball team at USN. Like Indian summer, though, he rejoined us for the last days of the Dodgers when the boys were 13. It so was good to have him back with our group, where he belonged, and to see Josh and Lauren with the other families as the boys played out the string together.
One of my fondest memories is watching Benjy close out a game on the mound, pitching, in a double header at Pitts Park, an old school baseball field that's always been one of my favorites. We had a lead and at his request, I brought Benjy in to pitch. Normally, he doesn't throw particularly hard but he was slinging it that day and throwing strikes. It was impressive.
In my memory, he struck out a couple of boys and ended the game for us. His teammates were excited for him and as Benjy walked off the field, they slapped him on the back. Benjy grinned from ear to ear. Josh was beaming, as I recall, and we made eye contact and shared a moment and probably a fist bump.
I'll always remember that day, mostly because of the look on Benjy's face at the end of the game. In a way, that moment encapsulated who the Dodgers were as a team.
I was blessed and honored to attend Benjy's bar mitzvah last year. My admiration for Benjy and, really, for the entire Beckman family, only grew as I sat with other, listened, and watched the ceremony. It was a special day. Knowing my father would have had a bar mitzvah of his own many, many years ago made the entire day more meaningful to me.
If you're lucky - and Lord knows I have been lucky - you meet people and make friends through your children's activities. Friends that last. The Beckman's are friends that will last. I'm sure of it.
Goodbye, Benjy, and goodbye to the Beckman's. Good luck in Dallas and Godspeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment