Fuzzy Childhood Memories II

Dixie Youth Baseball - 1986-1988
I was 10 years old and life was good. Baseball was my passion, Ozzie Smith was the man. My red Nike cleats paid homage to him, although our uniforms were yellow with brown lettering. We wore the Dixie Youth logo proudly on our right sleeve, not really knowing the implications of the 'stars 'n bars' incorporated into it, other than it was like the ones on top of the 'General Lee' in 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and everyone thought 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was cool. Heck, every car horn just about was rigged to sound like the 'General Lee'. What a bunch of rednecks.

I played shortstop for Golden Corral. They were like the Yankees of the Reidsville Dixie Youth League. Golden Corral was one of the finest dining establishments in the whole town and our team enjoyed the perks. After every Monday practice, we were treated to a free meal at the restaurant, we were on top of the world. On the really hot summer days, while other teams were lucky to have lukewarm water with a lead aftertaste, our team had and endless supply of iced down Coke and Mr. Pibb.

I remember a few of the kids on the team. There was Lil' Red, the biggest kid in the league. He would have to buy a new 'Bomb Bat' every week because he hit the ball so hard that the bats would deform on impact. There was Dinky Robertson. He was the kid who always acted cool and tough off the field, but on the field he was always getting hurt and ended up crying every game. Lets see, there was Ricthie Wright, son of a dairy farmer. One day he came to practice with a bandage on his face, apparently he had been bitten in the face by a cow. There were many more, but those are just the few that stick out.

Dixie Youth Baseball was not the Little League World Series, but we didn't care. All we knew how to do was to just have fun. You won some, you lost some. Maybe somebody's dad got mad and beat down the umpire in the parking lot. Maybe some of the parents took it a little too seriously, belittling their kid for not swinging on 0 and 2. So what if some of the kids were already chewing tobacco at the age of 10, it's all just a part of life and growing up I guess.