Emerald Dreams

I remember as a kid that my mother gave my copy of Frank Waldman's "Bonus Pitcher" to the book fair I had to buy it back for a quarter The book told the tale of how a "bonus baby" won the respect of those who resented him at first Also, it told the tale of the Boston Red sox defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World series I have re - read the book during dark times in my life Baseball defines America Our national pastime is also enshrined in the movie "Field of Dreams" As for myself - I only played catcher in the Little League for a short while and cried when the Mets lost (as they usually did in their early years) I have heard stories of NY ballplayers from years ago and they still reverberate in my mind Older now - the best I can do now would be to whack some softballs from a batting cage machine Time wears us all down The baseball diamond still shines green in our mind's eye!