The ball comes slower, and it seems to hang in the air. I glance over at Hurdle, who is smiling like Howdy Doody as he mimics a golf swing. At the end of the drills and an evaluation game, I am drafted by the team coached by former Mets catcher Steve Swisher and 1986 World Series pitcher Randy Niemann. 1 Two strained quadriceps, sore shoulder, sore elbow, swollen index joint, spirits soaring. The baseball fits my softball glove like a pearl in a trash-can lid.
Body is fine, snores like a happy camper.
His relic of a catcher's mitt, won during a stint playing semi-pro in the late 1940s and early '50s, is torn. Slocum leaves a Baby Ruth candy bar on my bed. Joint on right hand looks like a plum. Glove is taking to the baseball shape. Body still tip-top.