Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

The baseball –

It was sitting there in the grass, right in centerfield of the new softball diamond at Newtown High School, incongruous and lonely. I walked over and picked it up, rolling it over in my hand as if it were some artifact.

My first thought – as I looked back over my shoulder and saw the outfield fence of the new baseball diamond sitting about 50 feet away – was that someone on the baseball team had tagged a home run during batting practice.

A fairly mammoth home run considering the outfield fence is 385 feet from home plate in the rightfield power alley and this ball – figuring in the obvious roll it would have gotten – was at least 50 feet beyond that.

Of course, there could be a lot of other reasons why the ball was sitting in the grass there. Maybe some kids were fooling around on the softball field and hitting some balls. Maybe a couple of guys were having a catch in the outfield of the baseball diamond and one of them accidentally threw the ball over the fence.

Or maybe it dropped out of some guy’s glove as he walked across the field.

But as I looked at the outfield fence, I pictured someone on the baseball team belting a bomb over the fence and – right at that moment – I couldn’t wait for the 2003-04 season to start on Wednesday against Abbott Tech.

“It was an insurance run, so I hit it to the Prudential Building.” – Reggie Jackson, on hitting a home run in Fenway Park

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One of the things I love about the start of a new season is wave of optimism that seems to wash over everyone. Sure, some coaches and players are simply trying to maintain a positive outlook, but most truly believe and that’s what is great.

Some track and field athletes, in fact, are talking a lot of smack on www.nighthawknation.com, the great web site put together by Kyle Lyddy.

Like this –

“The Newtown boys track and field team is nastier than ever. We are sick – so (sic) doubt. Our distance kicks rear end and our throwers are a lot better. We lost some solid sprinters, but that don’t matter, we still nasty.”

And this –

“The girls track and field team is also going to do amazing. We have the best sprinters we’ve ever had – freshmen threw (sic) seniors!!! Our jumpers are crazy. They’re going to kick butt and our distance just won’t stop, this is going to be an amazing season.”

Don’t you just love that stuff? It might be unfortunate if either one of these athletes was to face a harsh reality at some point in this season, but right now there is nothing wrong with optimism and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

“I was home for a week following the season before I realized we weren’t in the World Series.” – Bill Madlock on the optimistic outlook of manager Chuck Tanner.