How did those boys - my boys - grow up so fast?
Yesterday, or so it seems, I was playing "giant pepper" with them on field 3 at Warner Park before an 11 - 12 year old baseball game, calling them by their nicknames I made up as they laughed uproariously. The Mongoose (Jonathan Kleinstick). The Big Cat (Wes Taylor). The Helpless Gazelle (Aidan Poff).
Now, several of them are playing their final high school baseball season. I've been determined to get out to see each of them play one more time. It's tough with my work schedule and the boys' sports' schedules but I'm determined to make it happen.
Monday, Hume Fogg played USN at Vanderbilt, which was really cool. Apparently, Vanderbilt allows Hume Fogg to play one baseball game a season there. It means a lot to the boys, I know, to have an opportunity to play a high school baseball game at Hawkins Field. It's special.
Jonathan Kleinstick, whom I began calling "JK" early on, plays centerfield for Hume Fogg. JK was a Dodger almost from the beginning. He was one of my core guys for almost a decade, from age 5 to 13 or 14, along with JP, Wes Taylor, Benton Wright, and Porter Weeks.
JK's dad, Randy Kleinstick, was my first base coach for all those years. We coached together in ballparks all over middle Tennessee in spring, summer, and fall. Randy became a dear friend of mine and, to this day, he still is. Recently, he retired from Nissan after a career spent working there.
JK was the Dodgers' leadoff hitter, always and forever. He and Randy worked and worked and worked, often times together at Green Hills Park and, later, in the batting cage at JT Moore Middle School. JK turned himself into an excellent outfielder and a good hitter. He's always been my fastest players.
In the perfect Dodgers' lineup, batted JK first and JP second. I called the "the daily double," with a tip of the cap to Cubs' Hall of Fame broadcaster, Harry Caray. In the early 1980's, he called Bobby Dernier and Ryne Sandberg "the daily double," too.
Walking into Hawkins' field, I saw Juliet Douglas, the interim Head of School at USN. A true servant-leader, she was coaxed out of retirement to run the school for a year while they searched for a new Head of School after the ignominious end of Amani Reed's three year tenure. Juliet represents everything that is good about USN and it made my night to see her at the baseball game.
I walked over to the Hume Fogg section on the third base side, found Randy, and gave his wife a hug. Randy and I quickly settled in to watch the baseball game. JK made a couple of nice plays in centerfield, tracking fly balls with confidence. Clearly, he is comfortable defensively, which wasn't always the case when he was younger. That's what consistent, hard work will do for you.
JK was 0-2 at the plate, batting ninth. He's been in a bit of a slump which, of course, happens in baseball. He had been hot lately, batting leadoff, but cooled off the last two or three games, according to Randy.
It was a great game, 2-2, until the sixth inning when Hume Fogg's coach foolishly pulled almost all of the starters so the junior varsity players could get play an inning or two at Hawkins' field. I left and later learned that USN won 16-2.
As I left, I stopped by the Hume Fogg dugout, leaned down, and talked briefly with JK through the protective netting. I told him I was proud of him as my voice caught in my throat. In a spontaneous gesture that, somehow, summed up my feelings this spring for all of my Dodgers as they play out the last games of their baseball careers, I tapped my right hand tow my heart a couple of times, smiling and fighting back tears.
As I turned to leave, I marveled at how grown up JP looked and at how quickly those Dodgers' days passed by.
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