I
was sitting here this afternoon watching a baseball game on television. After a
couple of dull innings with no action, my mind began to drift back to another
place, another time, another game and different players.
As we arrived at that long ago game we could see the boys
heading to the outfield and the first one I saw was Hunter Suber, as he was the
opening pitcher on the mound. I began mumbling to my husband, "What in
heck is wrong with Hunter? Does he look different to you?" Hunter began
to pop his cap on and off his head, a nervous habit all men seem to have, and then
I saw it. HE IS BALD!!! I mean like you can see-the-veins-in-his-head-BALD! I
began to look at all the boys and they ALL looked different.
I could hear some parents beginning to laugh and some of them are talking under their breath. Then I heard Angie Suber LOUDLY telling Hunter's daddy what she thinks of Hunter's head. I was trying not to laugh because she surely did not think it was funny as they had an Olan Mills portrait appointment that next Saturday for Easter pictures! She looked like she wanted to tear his behind up and cry all at the same time.
I began to look for Zach, his position was far right field, and he appeared to look normal, his hair was long and curly and I could still see it at the bottom of his cap. He was so funny about his hair, it didn't surprise me that he didn’t succumb to the shave tradition, solidarity or not.
Inning over and Zach is next-up-to-bat. As I turned to watch, something looked very strange. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, but his hair looked weird. It was still long in the back, but it kind of looked like he had it tucked behind his ears on the sides - like a girl.
The umpire calls time, Zach steps out of the batter’s box and nervously begins to "pop his cap" on and off his head, and that’s when I see it - a curly strip going down the top of his head in the center, all the way to the back of his head, a MOHAWK.
I came OUT of my chair and was standing as close to the fence as I could get without jumping it. I leaned into the wire mesh, gritting my teeth as I said, "Boy, you'd better hope those clippers are still in that dugout, because you are shaving the rest of that mess off before we go home tonight"! He never even flinched; instead a slow cock-eyed grin started to form, he turned his head just slightly in my direction and winked – he WINKED AT ME!
It's a funny story now, but it wasn't so funny that night. I can still hear Jeff Suber telling his wife Angie “it’s just hair, he can wear a cap in the pictures and it’ll be fine. Now that’s some entertaining baseball folks.
I could hear some parents beginning to laugh and some of them are talking under their breath. Then I heard Angie Suber LOUDLY telling Hunter's daddy what she thinks of Hunter's head. I was trying not to laugh because she surely did not think it was funny as they had an Olan Mills portrait appointment that next Saturday for Easter pictures! She looked like she wanted to tear his behind up and cry all at the same time.
I began to look for Zach, his position was far right field, and he appeared to look normal, his hair was long and curly and I could still see it at the bottom of his cap. He was so funny about his hair, it didn't surprise me that he didn’t succumb to the shave tradition, solidarity or not.
Inning over and Zach is next-up-to-bat. As I turned to watch, something looked very strange. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, but his hair looked weird. It was still long in the back, but it kind of looked like he had it tucked behind his ears on the sides - like a girl.
The umpire calls time, Zach steps out of the batter’s box and nervously begins to "pop his cap" on and off his head, and that’s when I see it - a curly strip going down the top of his head in the center, all the way to the back of his head, a MOHAWK.
I came OUT of my chair and was standing as close to the fence as I could get without jumping it. I leaned into the wire mesh, gritting my teeth as I said, "Boy, you'd better hope those clippers are still in that dugout, because you are shaving the rest of that mess off before we go home tonight"! He never even flinched; instead a slow cock-eyed grin started to form, he turned his head just slightly in my direction and winked – he WINKED AT ME!
It's a funny story now, but it wasn't so funny that night. I can still hear Jeff Suber telling his wife Angie “it’s just hair, he can wear a cap in the pictures and it’ll be fine. Now that’s some entertaining baseball folks.
No comments:
Post a Comment