Bluegrass and baseball are connected at the hip. And I would have serious withdrawal symptoms if I were deprived of either. Covid tested me with both addictions over the past two years and I was worried that labor negotiations might deprive me of one of my passions this spring despite gradually lifting restrictions for the pandemic.
My baseball season used to start in April and end in May. That’s because I was a coach for Rookie ball (which comes after Tee Ball and precedes Little League). My son liked to play and I had Tuesdays and Thursdays off. It was the high point of my year. Although it’ was a lot of work and a disruption to our family routine, it was huge amount of fun to take a bunch of kids and run them through drills and games every week. Most of them become baseball fans as a result of this process. When I showed up at after-school day camp to pick up my son every Tuesday and Thursday, I felt like a rock star. Kids from former and current teams would greet me with a hearty “Hi, Coach”. I felt like a somebody.
My first Rookie Ball team was the Athletics and my team the next year was the Red Sox, (which happens to be my favorite major league baseball team). I remember every kid from both of those teams. We lost most of our games and I felt like a real heel every time a kid struck out from my bad pitching (lobbing actually; coaches serve the ball up to their own players at this level and you’re not exactly trying to get people out). I tried to make sure every kid had fun but I can tell you, it was a lot of pressure. Well after two years of being pummeled by more talented Rookie Ball teams, our team the next year (the Giants) was undefeated. My son Ethan made the only unassisted triple play I have ever seen. His best friend Eddie made the only home plate put-out of the year. One kid made plays all over the field no matter where I tried to position him, and newly promoted Tee Ball players were hitting the cover off the ball by season’s end. It was unbelievable! That’s why I go through baseball withdrawal every year, That was the best season ever.
Baseball is of course intimately connected with Bluegrass music. Bill Monroe was one of the first musicians to sponsor a baseball team. Jazz legends Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway had built teams in the 30’s, but Bill Monroe loved baseball and put together some pretty formidable teams himself. Some of his players had even played in the major leagues. The Bluegrass Boys travelled up to 3000 miles a week for concerts out of Nashville, and Bill needed lots of help setting up tents and equipment for each performance. He hired former baseball players for his road crew. Often the tents were set up at the local baseball field. The music started around 7:30 and after the forty five minute concert, Bill’s team would take the field against the local baseball team.
Monroe and other members of the band were part of the team. Some of the musicians on the Bluegrass All-stars were pretty good. Clyde Moody had played minor league ball for two seasons and had a blazing, if erratic, fastball. Shortstop Jackie Phelps was a good contact hitter who hardly ever struck out. Charlie Cline was an excellent third baseman. But, according to Bill himself, Stringbean Akeman was the best player from the band on the team. In later years the Bluegrass Boys got very serious about their baseball. One game was apparently cancelled after Bill had arranged for none other than the great Dizzy Dean to pitch the first three innings. Don Reno went so far as to say that Bill was more interested in baseball than he was in music at that time, (just after Flatt and Scruggs had left the band): “I reckon it was his way of resting his mind from music”.
Baseball and Bluegrass was intimately connected in our house too. My son Ethan got a bribe every time he practices his fiddle. The bribe was a brand new pack of baseball cards. Very effective and money well spent. When we attended Bluegrass festivals together, my jam time was limited primarily by how many baseball games I get roped into.
Seasons come and seasons go. I hope this year is a good baseball season and a good Bluegrass season for all of you. See you in Grass Valley.
