Base Ball - A Story
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learningdisabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech thatwould never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the schooland itsdedicated staff, he offered a question:'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, isdone with perfection.Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannotunderstand things as other children do.Where is the natural order of things in my son?'The audience was stilled by the query.The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who wasmentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity torealize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way otherpeople treat that child.'Then he told the following story:Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playingbaseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that mostof the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a fatherI also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him amuch-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by othersin spite of his handicaps.I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expectingmuch) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said,'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess hecan be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on ateam shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but wasstill behind by three.In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the rightfield. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just tobe in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to himfrom the stands.In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again..Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was onbase and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to winthe game?Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all butimpossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, muchless connect with the ball.However, as Shay stepped up to theplate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winningaside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ballin softly so Shay could at least make contact.The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towardsShay.As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ballright back to the pitcher.The game would now be over.The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown theball to the first baseman.Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head,out of reach of all team mates.Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run tofirst!Run to first!'Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming andstruggling to make it to the base.B y the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had theball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to bethe hero for his team.He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but heunderstood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw theball high and far over the third-baseman's head.Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circledthe bases toward home.All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him byturning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!Shay, run to third!'As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, wereon their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hitthe grand slam and won the game for his team'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanityinto this world'.Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having neverforgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeinghis Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
