On Softball and Spring

Jerry Kaptsein didn't come down from Providence for the opening of their Spring Training. They had no visions of playing out their options, or holding out for a no-cut contract, or more money next year.
They weren't looking to play in the media cities that had lucrative promotional opportunities. They didn't even know what their uniforms would look line, or when they would get them. At this point, they really didn't care.
Right now they were worrying about the Winter pounds, and how they were going to get rid of them. The dust rose over the sandlot next to Harrington Hall, as some 20 workers from the IMH (Institute of Mental Health) and General Hospital looked forward to that opening day in May.
Their friends thought they were nuts. It was late February of what seemed like the worst winter in history. Eight inches of snow still lay on the ground, and Spring was never going to come.
But these were men of vision. These were men of dreams.
These are the guys of the Local 1350 softball team -- our team -- that won 35 games last year, and lost only 10, all for the fun of it, and for the sake of bringing civic pride to their fans at the Medical Center. This is the game of bats and balls, bases and mits at its glorious foundation.
Today is April 1, and these guys are the personification of it. Today is April Fools Day, a day designed way back there in the Middle Ages to trick people into smiling. Old Man Winter still had his sour grip on people's growling lips. Nothing could break the dreary spell, except for sheer foolery. That tickle of a prank wants to subversively warm the cold heart with a special fever. Just toasty enough for a giggle.
Never mind a giggle, after this long winter, we deserve a good, long 19-inning belly laugh.
They've shown you how to have fun. Now let the guys of Local 1350 be the example you'll follow. Get out, get into the sun, and do things. Choose up sides for your own softball team or just play catch at lunchtime. Loosen up, shoot some hoops, hack a few tennis balls. Walk around Wallum Lake, or "come about" in a dinghy on it. Jog through the fields of Exeter. Go for an eagle. Grow a plant. Get a tan. Be a fan.
Drink in that warm air, feed those creative juices inside, and then get back to work with new eyes, new drives.
And get out to watch these guys of Local 1350, especially this month as they play their exhibition season at Garvey Field. This is their year.
Move over Yaz!

Editor's note: This piece first appeared on April 1, 1977 in "Outlook," the monthly newsletter for the employees at the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, Cranston, R.I.. The editor was Denis J.Kelly.

For Searching For Goodness
Denis J. Kelly
April 1, 2011