C'mon Mikey! Let's play ball!

My brother and I are not quite two years apart. My youngest brother was born during my twelfth year on this earth. Both are fine, upstanding, Christian men and I'm proud to have them as brothers.

For those first twelve years, it was " me and Mikey" (Mike-ee), and you would'nt see one of us without the other. Being the older, very early on I was ordered to "look after" Mikey.  To me, that meant I could order him around some, make decisions for the both of us, and get him to ask our parents for permission to do something.

Early on we both took an interest in sports through Little League baseball, but it played out fairly quickly that I had the much greater interest. I loved sports, especially baseball, and I wanted very badly to be good at the game. I would start early in the morning begging Mikey to play ball with me out in the yard. I think he knew what he was doing when he would say "Naa...I don't want to". I'd use every ounce of reasoning ability an eight or nine year old boy could muster. Bribery was out of the question for neither of us had anything much to call our on, so, I'd beg and beg, pester and plead until finally...he'd say "Ah-ite, but I get to bat first!".

Finally, the game was on. I always had to set up the bases and hunt up the bat, ball and gloves. A two man baseball game was a bit difficult to play. Out of necessity, we used imaginary runners, boundaries in the field for singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. If the player in the field could get to a bag before the batter could get to first, he could force out an imaginary runner, etc..

The game would begin with me in the field and Mikey at bat. I would run myself to death nearly, trying to get him out so that I could bat.  At last, the third out!....then I'd look up and see Mikey cackle out loud, throw the bat down and run for the house as hard as he could! That would do it for me every time! I would light in after him with brotherly thoughts of murder on my mind and when I did catch him, I'd fist him on the shoulder, get him down and hold him, threaten him to an inch of his life, or, all of the above! I'd not have much to do with him for a day or two, but much like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football knowing that Lucy is going to pull it away,  I would soon start begging him again.

You might think I never got to bat...well, I did bat sometimes, and on the times he'd quit and run, after I reckoned with him, I'd go get my stick bat and bat rocks...hey!...if you want something bad, you'll figure out something!

I'll never forget those times, and, all in all, it helped me to become a player good enough to pay most of my way through college and enable me to have a successful coaching career, so,  Mikey did me a great favor every time we played, even the times he'd quit and run!.... Thanks Mikey!