baseball writing challenge

Even Mighty Casey did it.

Baseball is a funny sport. So is softball, for that matter. If you break it down to its simplest terms, baseball can be explained quite easily.

Somebody throws a small round object at you and you are trying to hit it with a stick. It could come at high velocity, or slower and moving all over the place. If you should happen to hit the ball, the idea is for somebody else to catch it and get you out, either by catching it in the air, or by throwing the ball to another person to get you out.

Simple.

Or is it?

Strikeouts are a way to for pitchers to, sometimes, show some dominance. The idea, of course, is for batters to swing and miss … and then pitchers know they’ve done an excellent job.

Strikeouts come at all levels of baseball. I remember many of mine, be it in baseball or softball. I always prided myself on behind a good hitter and being able to make contract. Still, strikeouts happen — and often it’s a swing and a miss that gets you.

Think about this — the top 10 pitchers in MLB history have combined for 40,726 strikeouts. Let that sit in for a bit. That’s a ton of strikeouts and, most likely, a lot of those have a lot of swing and misses.

I’ve played softball for more than 25 years. That’s a long time to play modified pitch softball. Yes, I’ve struck out. I even remember a few games where I struck out more than once.

It’s all part of the game.

As much frustration a batter gets when he or she swings and misses, remember that more often than not, batters make contact with the ball. So think of the frustration a pitcher must feel!

Back to Mighty Casey, though. Let me leave you with this YouTube video of James Earl Jones reading the famous story of Mighty Casey.

If you are taking part in this month’s Can of Corn Challenge, link up below and visit any others who might be doing the same! You can see the remainder of the themes for this summer (and join us in any that you would like) by clicking here.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

My father wasn’t much of a baseball person.

I don’t recall a lot of memories many young boys have with their fathers in regard to baseball. I am pretty sure we might have gone to a minor league game or two as a kid. But I remember being in Philadelphia and left behind when my father and grandfather took my older brothers to a game at the Vet. I do recall getting a Larry Bowa giveaway shirt, though.

I don’t have memories of playing catch with my father, though in later years, there are some fond memories on the golf course together.

But I do have a pretty vivid baseball memory of him. It was 1982 and I was 8 and playing in the younger division of the local “little league.” My father was the chief of police in town, so he usually worked during the days and such.

For the 1982 season, though, he coached our little league team with another father or two. I do remember him at games, wearing a cap, in jeans and a short-sleeve shirt and doing the best he could as coach. I can still picture him, when the tattoos he got when in the Air Force (on his arms) were a little more vivid and vibrant. I can see him watching the game as it unfolded.

As an 8-year-old on that team, it was an important memory.

I think what is even cooler, though, was that we won the championship that year. I still have the tiny plaque we received for winning that year (something I again experienced five years later – but my father wasn’t the coach of that team), and it’s something I’ve though back on several times.

So despite never learning how to score a game, or have daily catches in the summer with my father, there’s an important memory as a youngster where I shared baseball with him.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

It’s time for the Can of Corn Challenge.

Maybe this year, we can get a few people to join in throughout the summer to follow the themes below and add to this challenge.

It’s pretty simple – the third Wednesday of each month from April-October, there will be a baseball-related theme. So plan a blog post for that day, then come back here and link up.

Last year was the fire year this challenge went and didn’t attract a lot of eyes. Maybe this year will be different.

And don’t think you have to be somebody who watches or goes to a ton of games to be part of this. I’ve tried to make the themes somewhat open in the hopes that more bloggers could take part in this.

The dates and themes for the entire summer are below. Maybe you’ll get into a writing frenzy and get them all done at once and schedule them. Maybe you’ll only want to do a couple of them. But join in and have some fun. After all, that is what this is all about!

The dates and themes are as follows:

April 19: An early baseball memory
May 17: Swing and a miss
June 21: Best baseball movie
July 19: What do you bring to the ballpark?
August 16: The designated hitter
September 20: The voice of baseball
October 18: The fall classic

Again, take the theme and have fun with it. Hopefully, this is open-ended enough to get a bunch of bloggers to join us for this challenge and have some fun!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!