“Since August of this year when I moved back to UD I have worked a minimum of six days a week to improve myself as a baseball player. I have lifted weights with near religious devotion and consumed vile tasting shakes in a quest to transform my body into something more reminiscent of a Division I athlete. I have run on pavement, gym floors, and on treadmills in order that I might not wear down in the latter part of a doubleheader. I do sit ups while watching TV.”

“As for my skills, I have thrown until my elbow screams at me with piercing anger. I have tossed on fields, on gym floors, and even once on a snowy soccer field all in order that my arm might be considered “average.” And yet this work already spoken of pales in comparison to the time I have spent crafting my swing. Since late August I have taken approximately 10,000 swings. I have been swinging before sunrise, after sunset, and even sometimes outside when the sun was up. My hands are both blistered and calloused marked with dark spots present from where the bat continually slides. With the help of my coaches and teammates I have worked and prepared myself.”

“I have prepared myself in order that when opportunity arises I may be at the top of my game. I have pushed myself in order that when it is, as Coach V likes to say, “my time to shine,” I may radiate. In my work, I focus on the season and on the moment when I can begin to have returns on my investment. I have worked in order that when the team depends upon and needs me, I will prove stalwart.”

“In our last game, an embarrassing 5-3 loss against Newman, my time came to what I believed would be fruition of this work. Down 4-2 with the bases loaded and one out I came to bat in against a pitcher that I had proved dominant over previously in the game (1-1 with an RBI and a HBP). This was my time to shine and shine I surely would. I knew how and where he was going to pitch me. The team needed this hit to push us over the precipice of anxiety and self -doubt so thick at the beginning of a season that had started with three losses. What better person to deliver this hit than myself, a returning captain? I was prepared, willing and eager. I was the right man in the right spot. Up one ball and no strikes I readied myself for the pitch and saw the fastball I was looking for and capitalized by striking it squarely. Yet instead of glory, disparity rained down as I realized I had come off the ball a bit too soon and had hit a screaming grounder directly at the second baseman for an inning ending double play. This was the point of the game where wins and losses are determined. I was given the choice to win or lose for our team in this opportunity. I had the confidence to capitalize and was prepared. Yet I failed. The game was on me.”

“The feelings that cascade upon you after the game with this realization are rife with frustration and anger. A burning sensation seems to flow down your esophagus and into your stomach eating away at your insides with the vexation of continually seeing that pitch in that at bat replay over in your head time and time again. Sitting still is not an option but rather pacing becomes the modus operandi of the evening. Questions then come streaming into your head finally clearly honed in on why. Why do I put myself through this? Why do I play this game that is so full of failure? Why do I do the work that it entails when this is the result?”

“The answer is Mr. Don Pinsiotti. Mr. Pinsiotti is a 1947 University of Dayton graduate who I had the incalculable pleasure of sitting next to this weekend in Phoenix for a UD alumni dinner. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. Throughout our table’s conversation during dinner, I found out that Mr. Pinsiotti played both professional baseball and football even after serving his country in the pacific theater during WWII. He told stories of playing against Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and other greats of that era. In his slight Italian accent, he recounted stories of escorting John F. Kennedy to meetings and of his friendship with Frank Kranz, the lead mission controller for many of the Apollo missions. Finally, we had the distinct pleasure of hearing his views on the current conflict with Iraq and other political matters. It was one of the most thoroughly enjoyable conversations I have ever had and was possible only because I was part of University of Dayton baseball team.”

“This is why I play this game so full of frustration and failure. I love the game and the playing of it but there is something beyond that which makes it so worthwhile despite the frustration. This game has given me so many opportunities. It has allowed me to attend a university that I would have otherwise not been able to attend. It has allowed me to travel to other countries and all avenues of the United States. It has given me my best friend. Baseball has allowed me to meet amazing people that I otherwise would have never met. This is why I do these things and play this game. This is why I keep playing and keep swinging no matter the outcomes. Baseball has given me too much to allow me to give up on it before its due time. This is how the questions are answered after a game such as this and yet a new question quickly arises as soon as this one is answered. The question always is, “When do we play next?”