Hi this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by Auto Logic, the Logical Choice.
Tomorrow is ” Random Act of Kindness Day ” in Owen Sound, Walkerton and elsewhere.
As an ambassador for the Community Foundation Grey Bruce campaign, I hope you’ll find a way to easily participate.
The most significant Random Act of Kindness in sports that I can recall took place on the Grade 8 ball diamond at Huron Park Public School sometime in the late 60’s.
At night, almost every night through the Spring and Summer, we’d play ” work ups ” with my father as the pitcher.
He’d pitch from after supper til sundown allowing Frankie Palmer, Danny Lethbridge, Kenny Desjardins and a dozen other neighbourhood kids to play semi-organized baseball.
This one night, Kenny’s cousin was visiting, and he joined the game.
It was apparent to everyone that the cousin didn’t have Kenny’s gift for baseball, and as result, while everyone got 3 or 4 trips to the plate, the cousin spent the night dropping pop ups and watching grounders roll between his legs. It was hilarious…. And sad.
I don’t know why I remember this, but you’ll have to trust my memory on this.
As the sun started to sink behind the trees in Little Lake signalling the end of the game was near, Kenny’s cousin came to the plate for his one and only at bat of the night.
I was the first baseman, which meant that as soon as Kenny’s cousin struck out, I’d get one more shot at hitting against my father.
Sure enough, the cousin whiffed on 3 straight pitches and we all started to rotate forward in the tradition of the game.
” HOLD IT “, my father commanded, ” the last pitch was a foul ball. “
Now understand, nobody ever disputed my Dad’s fairness in these games, but in this case, there were howls of protest.
Nevertheless, we went back to our previous positions and on the next pitch, Kenny’s cousin hit a dribbler, tapping it, barely, straight back to my Dad.
I went to cover first base and watched in stunned amazement as my Father awkwardly struggled to pick up the ball.
Equally stunned by simply making contact was Kenny’s cousin who was still planted at home plate, only moving once the other boys at home implored him to get running.
My Dad finally picked up the ball, and with more than enough time to get the runner, he promptly threw the ball 15 feet over my head………
I remember two sounds from that night; the clang of the ball hitting the graveyard fence that bordered the diamond, and the childish squeal of delight as Kenny’s cousin wheeled around first and headed for second base.
I can’t say that I understood it then, but decades later it stands as one of the greatest Random Acts of Kindness I’ve ever known
I’m Fred Wallace