The Day Moose Came to Town
Erin Falls was never a sports town. We had baseball in the summer and an outdoor skating rink in winter; summers were hot and winters were cold. In 1912, Pumpkin Patch Park arose from a vacant lot at the north end of town. A makeshift baseball diamond first appeared in 1920 out of the dusty field that hadn’t seen moisture in decades. After gallons of water, bundles of fertilizer, and umpteen bags of grass seeds, it was transformed into a playable baseball field. At first, it saw little action. Then, some local teenagers formed a makeshift baseball team, and after that, the idea caught on.
When I was eight, I got interested in baseball from a book I received as a birthday present. With a few pennies I earned cutting grass and
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George Brown, a newly acquired teacher, volunteered to be our coach. George was a local boy born raised on a farm just south of Erin Falls. While in University, George decided to fulfil his lifelong dream of coaching a sports team.
I remember the day I saw the poster on the school bulletin board. I was the first to sign up. Within days, eight more names were added. We were all driven by the expectation that someday we, too, would be a star like Moose. Seeing the fire in our eyes and our eagerness to learn, George Brown knew that he’d finally found his reason to stay in Erin Falls.
Months passed, and it quickly became apparent that “The Pumpkin Patch Park Marauders,” in their bright-orange jerseys, were finally a baseball team. What to do now? The closest organized team was twenty miles away. So, George Brown approached the only service club in town and asked for money. George not only got his money, but his wish also. The Erin Falls Marauders and their bright-orange jerseys beat the team handily; they also travelled, again and again, winning every game, all thanks to me, the pitcher who had registered twenty straight
In Green bay, Wisconsin, at a softball facility, on January 23rd, Seriena Dunaway was playing in a softball league. Dunaway was playing against Elite, her team 's biggest rival. The air was cool and the playing turf was rough and hard to run or slide on. The people in the crowd could see the tension. The music was loud and seemed out of place.
Following a legion--The New Coach by Ned Linch “Tell us how you did it coach.” These words were forced into my face with a camera lens almost resting against my cheeks (page 395). The team did it along with some guidance from my assistant coach and the parents. I want to thank my assistant coach who is the baseball expert. He used to play in the minor leagues and the team loved him because of his dedication to their lives and his credibility at baseball.
In Chris Ballard’s non-fictional One Shot at Forever the underdogs, Macon “the Ironmen” baseball team, play a life-changing game in the 1971 Illinois State Championship game. This novel is mainly about a team with no hope of winning overcoming the odds and making it to the championship game. This novel is a true story. Most of the players on the actual Macon team have been drafted to the majors. One Shot at Forever displays a team who overcomes adversary, being grateful, and the power of friendship.
Major League Baseball started in 1869, the first MLB baseball team was started in Cincinnati. The first official game of baseball in the United States took place in June 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became America’s first professional baseball club. In 1871, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was established as the sport’s first “major league.” The MLB has gone through many transitions of talent and skill levels.
America has always had a deep connection with sports. Starting in 1839, America began its love affair with what is now deemed America’s favorite pastime, baseball. Beginning in Cooperstown, New York it quickly spread across the country creating a community around the team. Baseball came to Connecticut in 1874 when Hartford had an early major league team that shifted into several minor league teams that still exist today. While baseball is taking off in Hartford, a city just outside of Hartford is forming.
As I arrived at Jock Leighton Park, I started to have second thoughts. “Do I really have to do this?” , I asked my mom as we pulled into the parking lot. The lot was dim compared to the blinding, white lights on the lacrosse field. There were two giant, green fields that were side-by-side, with metal bleachers intersecting them.
The rivalry Jack was on his way to the first baseball practice of the season. Everybody knew that Jack was the best baseball player in the small town of Bosville, but over the summer a new baseball player moved into town, named Joe. Joe was supposed to be better than Jack. Joe was only 15 and he already had college scouts looking at him and trying to get him to play for the team they were scouting for. For the first time in Jack’s baseball career he is going to have to play good to keep his position at shortstop.
I didn’t know back then I would come the tremendously frightening and honoring understanding of how much I could influence a young person’s life. In our town there is a youth football program we have come to know as “Cadiz Biddy Football.” They start in August and play four teams two times each, then go into playoffs to see who gets to compete in the “Superbowl”. Along with the football program is a cheerleading program.
The sun shimmered, bouncing off the grass like a reflection from a mirror. The stands were packed at 5326 Willow Lane sports complex aka: Braves Feeding Grounds. The musky scent of sweat filled the small huddle, but nobody seemed to mind. In all white, the braves stared intently at coach Brett Bastian; waiting for the motivating speech that was sure to come on our biggest game of the season, braves vs wolves. In place of the electrifying peroration we had become accustomed to, Brett would deliver a life lesson that would long outlast my soccer career.
A Whole New Ball Game by Sue Macy tells tells the story of how the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League began. It is an account of life on the homefront during the time of World War II, and of women changing in the society evolving during this time in history. Not only that, it is also about the story baseball. For the women of all the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League were just as in adoration with the amusement as the men who made it to the majors. They left their families, their companions, and frequently their employments for the opportunity to play big time ball.
In the short story “Just Once” Moose faced these conflicts: he wanted to be able to run the ball, was the left tackle, and he had been overwhelmed by tacklers. He spent most of his time, when he wasn 't in a classroom or on the field reading letters from colleges. Moose had a hang up, “But looking back, most of his teammates agreed that Moose had been secretly nurturing the hangover for at least two years”. Most linemen Might think of running the ball, but they don 't usually follow through with the idea, but Moose wanted to run the ball. When Moose had said “ I want to carry the ball, Coach Williams said you keep on blocking son.”
While it was a man’s sport, women recognized the popularity of the game and seized the opportunity to make women known in a man’s world. By May 1901, there are reports of women playing baseball in Appalachia. Parkersburg, WV welcomed the New England Bloomer Girls in May, 1901. The reporter writes a somewhat lengthy article about the New England Bloomer Girls’ visit. The visit caused quite a stir.
As the turn of the century approached in the late 1890s, more Americans were spending leisure time at baseball games. The sudden interest in the classic American sport is reflected in the popular music of the time. Songs, such as “My Old Man is Baseball Mad” by Edward Clark, reveal the shift to more modern leisure time activities. Thus, the songs written about baseball during the early 1900s demonstrates American desires to spend more money and leisure time. American views to baseball during this time highly contrasts to the work-first mentality and time-consuming work during the Progressive Era of America.
The Hunt It was a gloomy September day and the bear hunting season was about to begin. The old farm truck was loaded full with barrels of cooking grease, assorted candy, birdseed and tubes of sticky frosting. We were to hunt four hours north in a little town called Orr, Minnesota. My family had an 80 acre lot that we used strictly for hunting. My mom volunteered to sit in the stand with me and videotape the hunt.
Is someone thought to be innocent capable of murder? In the short story " The Moose and the Sparrow" written by Hugh Garner, a nineteen year old boy named Cecil arrives at a lumber camp, claiming to need money for college. Cecil is a small and skinny boy, and is clearly very weak and frail, but highly intelligent. He makes an unwanted enemy of a giant of a man named Moose Maddon. Moose, jealous of Cecil's cleverness, bullies him to whaht seems like the breaking point.