I coulda been a contender.

If not for Bobby Pendergrass and Donny Kirsch.

The  three of us were kids crazy about baseball when we were growing up in Portland and though they never heard of me our lives intertwined.

Bobby and I were on the same baseball team at  Woodlawn grade  school. He  was the  best  hitter on our team.I sometimes got to  sit next  to him on the bench.

I never had a mitt but I did have a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and always  brought  it with me at practice. I got  it  from one of my customers when  I delivered her Oregon Journal paper one  day. One  day she  asked  me  if I played  baseball and  I said I planned  to be  big  leaguer someday. So she was impressed and went  to a hall closet  and  got a shiny baseball bat and gave  it  to me  and  said it  used  to be her son's and said I could have  it  because her son left  when he  grew up and and never came back from going  to war.

It looked  like  new so I always kept  it in my locker and took it  to the baseball games and practice.
I was  pretty lucky  because my history teacher , Mrs  Goulet  liked me  and she had a really fancy car and  when I told her  I was planning  on being  a baseball star and owned a Louieville  slugger she  was impressed  and  offered to drive me  to the school games no matter where and even brought  my shiny  bat.
And  even  came  and picked  me   up and drove me home.

 One  day I was  watching our  team practicing and  Bob Pendergrass came over asked of he could  try my  Slugger and I was so thrilled that he would talk  with me I said "sure.   but  be sure  to hold the Slugger trademark facing the  sky so it would not  break and he said  "sure" and went  up to the  plate with it and  hit the  first  pitch and he  forgot about  the  trademark  and  "pow " the  'slugger" flew into two pieces and I felt like bawling but he  handed me the handle and said he was sorry.

I took it  home and  wrapped some friction tape around it but  I never dared to swing it again.
Mrs.Goulet asked where  my " Slugger" was when she took me to the next  away game I told her it broke.

She still took me to the away games but I never got another bat.

One year the Portland Beavers held  a try out for kids who had  dreams of someday playing professional baseball and hundreds of Portland boys showed up  and I was placed at  shortstop and so was Donald  Kirsch. We were both freshmen at Jefferson High but he was on the frosh team.

They hit me a hot bouncer and the  ball took a crazy hop and hit  me on the  forehead and took a goofy leap and flew  into left  field.

Donny Kirsch was next and handled his jumping rabbit like Johnny Pesky, another famous Portland  shortstop and I slunk into the seats and he  ended up later as  the most famous Oregon baseball coach in history.

I sure thought  Mrs  Goulet was a great lady, though.

Jerry Robinson is our publisher. He can be reached at Publisher@robinsonnews.com