See You Again In Baseball Heaven My Friend

As a tween and teenager when I wasn't chasing pretty girls, you could be sure to find me on a baseball field or in a batting cage. I could play, watch my friends play on their teams and practice baseball for hours. You see me and my best friend Jorge Martinez dreamed of playing in the Big Leagues one day. We spent countless hours perfecting our swings at the batting cages at Carol City High School, breaking only to take some sips of water from a nearby water fountain. And when our hands started blistering, we'd sit down on the clay floor and fantasize about hitting back to back on the Big Red Machine one day. For most of our varsity years, we played on rival neighborhood high school teams. He, on the juggernaut Carol City Chiefs, loaded with talent and heritage and I on the upstart, new American High Patriots. While on the field we were fierce competitors, off the diamond, we were the best of the best friends. The kind of friends that at 14, knew we would be the godfathers of each others sons and grow old together grilling and enjoying cold beers at each others houses. Our love of baseball made us inseparable and we were responsible for bringing our two respective large Latin families together for weekend beach gatherings and family events. But sadly, our dreams of growing old together never materialized. While we were both devastated at the thought of our baseball careers coming to a screeching halt after high school and life called on us to move on, we took completely different paths. While I ran toward the light of a college life and the pursuit of academic interests, he couldn't break through the dark web of disillusion and ultimately surrendered to the substances that had eaten away at his soul. I miss my friend and no matter how much time passes, the loss of a childhood buddy stays with you forever. I do know that he's been right there with me during the 10 years I built and coached one of the best travel baseball teams in South Florida - my beloved South Florida Raptors. And I also know that Jorge will be striding up to the plate with me when I put on that Cincinnati Reds uniform and immerse myself in baseball heaven at the Reds Fantasy Camp in January.
 


 

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