Brick Giants, circa 1990

The baseball team I played for in the early 90’s was the Brick Giants. We played in the Garden State League. We had the exact same uniforms as the San Francisco Giants, so we thought we were hot shit. Whenever I watch the San Francisco Giants play today, I think of my teammates back then.

 

I broke my arm early in the season after being hit by a pitch. I was shot for the year. They went on to win the Garden State Championship.

 

The dude on our team most like Barry Bonds hit 12 homeruns in 25 games. He even played left field. I hit 4 and played third base. They expected more from me, but, again, I broke my arm. My best took out a few light bulbs on the scoreboard. His best took out our manager’s windshield. Now that I think of it, his one was better than all mine combined.

 

They made me drive to the 7-11 to get ice for my elbow, and coffee for the rest of the team. I watched the rest of the game with my elbow buried in a bag of ice.

 I went to work the next day with purple imprints of a baseball seam upon black and blue welt on the back of my right elbow. Dona, my baseball fan boss, showed me off for a few minutes, then kinda told me I needed an X-ray. I went for an X-ray, and my arm was broken. My heart was broken even more.