“Baseball has been a part of my family’s life since my first son was old enough to lift a glove. I coached both boys at various times in their baseball careers, and also my daughter for a memorable year of rec-league softball. The picture below was taken on my last day of organized baseball…unless I get to someday coach some grandkids.”

This picture that’s been on my mantle so long
	Depicting a season’s last game
Has meaning to me that others can’t see
	With those boys and those uniform stains
	
The guy with white hair and smiling is me
	On the right is my oldest son
The middle one there, with a uniform on
	Number 8, is my youngest one

He’d played a great game just prior to this shot
	His team became repeat state champs      
But what in this picture means much more to me
	Is the dirt on his shirt and his pants

For today I can see that the way he played then
	Was a clue about things still to come			
Diving for balls and sliding head first
	Would be how he played life, not just fun

Not pictured here is his last time at bat
	Or the sound of the fans’ long, loud, howl
When his long drive to left went over the fence
	Clear out of the park… but just foul

Today #8 hit another one out
	As he walked his new bride down the aisle
His family and friends are cheering the two
	And I step away with a smile

And glance at this photo I’ve kept all these years
	Remembering the game and just how
Proud of this boy I was way back then
	Who’s a man I’m still more proud of now

						E. A. Coe