Risking Everything

Smack! The ball is sailing through the air, a speeding bullet. Clang! The ball hits the fence and drops down. He rounds second, running as fast as a cheetah hunting its prey. The ball is thrown to third, but he dives under the tag. "Safe!" yells the umpire, and another triple is awarded. As a kid, my grandfather was the best baseball player in town. He could hit the farthest, run the fastest, and throw the hardest. He used to dominate the field at that young age.

When he got to high school, he played football, hockey, basketball, track, and basebalL He was named captain of his baseball team and played catcher. However, as he got older he noticed the competition was getting much harder. This entailed long hours of grueling practice. From high school, he went straight to the minor leagues, not bothering to go to college. He was in the minor leagues for a long time and that was when his decision came. He had to decide whether to give up baseball and get on with his life or to risk everything and go for the majors.

In baseball, to make it to the majors, you have to go from single A (A), to double A (AA) to triple A (AAA), and then to the majors. During single A my grandfather was the starting catcher. He was the leadoff hitter, because of his speed, and batted about .333 for the season. He told me that not too many runners stole off him because of his great power and accuracy. At the end of that seasorie moved up to AA where they already had a starting catcher. One day while at practice, the starting catcher broke his ankle. He was to be out for the next four or five games. During that period of time, my grandfather filled in and went ten for fourteen at the plate, stole three bases, and threw out two runners. From then on he was the starting catcher and he batted around .400 for the rest of the season. He moved up to AAA the nextseason and the other catcher stayed as AA catcher. When he got to AAA he began as the starting catcher. However, he was struggling with hitting the curveball. The rest of the season he was the backup catcher. He thought of quitting, but when he told his father, his father said if he quit now the door to the house would be locked when he came home. Therefore, he kept on trying. That off season, Honus Wagner came and taught my grandfather and a few other guys how to hit the curveball.

The next season my grandfather and another catcher took turns catching games. At the end of the season, they had around the same batting average, but only one of them was going to the majors. Both of them wanted to go to the Pirates, but because the manager knew the other catcher he decided to choose him. If my grandfather played in AAA again, he would be risking everything he had.

My grandfather wanted to keep playing baseball, but he didn't know if he could. He risked losing his girlfriend if he didn't make it to the majors soon. He might never get a good job in life and wouldn't be going to college until he was older. However, if he made it to the majors he would still have his girlfriend, wouldn't have to worry about college, he'd be rich, and he might even become famous. After a lot of thinking he decided to quit and get on with his life. He got married to his girlfriend and worked on the railroad for a job. A couple of years later he became a policeman. Although he was a great baseball player, he was happy with his decision.

Today, my grandfather is married and has three kids, one of them being my dad. He is a retired policeman and has served in a war. When he got older, he went to college. He owns a condo down in Florida where he is now. My grandfather still plays softball and baseball at the age of seventy-two. He plays six days a week and is on four different teams. At the 1997 Red Sox Fantasy Camp, he received MVP. In his life he has played with many famous baseball players, including Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Carl Yastremski, Wade Boggs, Fergie Jenkins, Rico Carty, Jim Rice, and Fred Lynn. He helps me with my batting whenever I need it. In my opinion, my grandfather made the right decision. He is the best grandfather anyone could ever have. The decision my grandfather made didn't just affect him. His wife would have wasted three years of her life with him, if he kept trying and never made it to the pros. Also I might never have been bom if he did not get married. I am very proud of what my grandfather has made of his life, and I hope to follow in his footsteps. He is an excellent role model, but most importantly he is an awesome grandfather.

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