Field of dreams

July 15, 2026

Key points from this story:

• Recently retired from league ball playing
• coach may have saved my life
• Wonky knee from a snowmobile
• Arthritis in right hand
• Throwing arm and shoulder deteriorated
• Never drank beer before or during games

A decision not reached lightly because I am still as game as I was when I was 8 pitching baseball, but no man is averse from the ravages of time.

That was 62 years ago! I have a wonky knee courtesy of a snowmobile, developed a touch of arthritis in my right hand, my throwing arm and shoulder are pretty well finished, and I would not mind being able to walk without a limp for the rest of my days on this third rock from the sun. Much like Jordan Peterson, who advocates the practice of introspection, as I reach 70, the realization that you have far more behind you than in front of you makes for some sombre pondering!

I recall as a young man being the product of a very difficult family dynamic, coming to play fastball here for a damn good team. My old coach took a very troubled, very angry young man under his wing and provided me with something lacking in my life - a positive male role model. As I developed more confidence in my play, I began to realize that my life had meaning, and purpose, and the current path I was on was heading to an early grave, or a jail cell. He may have saved my life, and that is a debt I can never repay, and I only summoned the courage a couple of years ago to call him and tell him that!

And he told me a couple of things I have taken to heart all these many years on a ball diamond, and in life! He told me once: it is all right to lose, absolutely no disgrace in being second best! But! The beers are twice as cold, and the B.S. twice as thick when you win! And he addressed the issue of beer on the bench with another gem of wisdom. You are supposed to look like an athlete out on the diamond, even if you are not. As a result, I have never drunk a beer before or during a ball game; I just don't do it, yet I see it happening with alarming frequency these days.

Partly because most of my playing career was at third base, the hot corner, and if you played there with your reflexes even partially impaired, you could get seriously injured.

I'll be the first one to join you in a cold one after the ball game, though! I am going to miss the diamond, but a new chapter in life opens up; I shall embrace it!