Dirt diamond memories

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor I f you have kids, let me take this time to encourage you to sign them up for spring sports, specifically baseball. Yes, soccer and volleyball are great too, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for youth baseball.

My own kids played baseball. My daughter still plays softball. She’s a senior this year and she and the West Memphis Blue Devils will be starting their 2024 softball season next week (February isn’t really “softball time” in my head but Ill be there, all bundled up).

The Marion Youth Sports Association and Crittenden County Boys & Girls Club are both holding sign-ups right now. My kids have played for both organizations and I can’t really rank one above the other, so I guess pick whichever one is more convenient for you in terms of getting to practice and to the games. They start as young as like 3 or 4 years old these days, and in my opinion, it’s never too early to fall in love with baseball.

Some of my fondest memories as a kid was playing summer baseball. Yes, they try to get it all in before school gets out these days, so it doesn’t interfere with family vacations, summer camp, etc., but back in the day, we didn’t even get started until around mid-May.

There was no Marion Youth Sports Association back then. In my youth, the Marion Jaycees oversaw all of that. I’m not even sure when the Jaycees/MYSA switchover took place. I’m guessing the early 1990s. It also never even occurred to me that I have no idea what a “Jaycee” is or what they do. So to the Google… Oh, it’s a spelled out name for “J.C.’s” or Junior Chamber. So, like, a civic organization with ties to the Chamber of Commerce. Neat-o.

Anyway, back then, most of the youth baseball was played at the K& R Park, that little collection of fields there that you can find if you turn right after crossing over the railroad tracks there in Marion by the courthouse. I do happen to know that “K& R” stands for “Kiwanis & Rotary” – two other civic organizations, so it’s all starting to add up.

I know the big complex there south of the high school gets a lot of love these days, as it should, but the K& R Park will always be “my” ballpark. All three of my kids got to play at least one season out there, so that was cool. Just the sight of the park can take me back to 1984 and all those hot muggy nights under the lights, fighting mosquitoes and hearing the buzz of the cicadas droning from behind the home run wall. And of course, there was the ever-present smell of OFF!, popcorn and 12-year-old-boys.

Nowadays, there are a lot of “travel ball” teams, where a single team just tours the region to play in weekend tournaments. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve done the travel ball thing a few times, but for me, I like the local leagues. It’s mostly because everyone can play. You don’t have to try out and pay some big fee to be part of a team. Everyone from the future D1 recruit to the kid that chases butterflies around right field (why is it always right field) gets in on the action.

What we used to do is at the end of each season, the coaches would vote and select three or four kids off of each team to be on the “All-Star” team. And that group of kids would then play in the regional tournaments. I was lucky enough to make a few All-Star teams back in the day, but my favorite “All-Star” moment came as a spectator. When I was 10 years old, Marion got chosen to host the Southwest Regional Qualifier for the whole Junior Babe Ruth Baseball Organization (basically Little League, just a different organization).

Teams came from not only Arkansas, but Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, with a spot in the World Series on the line. As host, we got to put a team in the tournament, so we collected the top 12-year-olds from the league to compete with literally the top 11 other teams in the Southwest Region.

We got destroyed. But I got to work the scoreboard and that came with all the free Coke and popcorn I could handle. I also got to watch 12-year-olds with mustaches from places like Dallas and Baton Rouge belt home runs not only over the fence but deep into the trees behind them. I also got to hear my favorite umpires like Ronnie Rogers, Joe Catt and Elmer West dramatically send these big boys from Oklahoma back to the dugout after a strike-three call.

The year I was 12, we hosted the State Qualifier, and honestly didn’t do much better, but I got to play in that one and even turned a snazzy double play. Anyway, sign your kids up for baseball!