77 Days to Opening Day

Opening Day 2008 for the Timber Rattlers is April 3. That is 77 days from today. This off-season, the countdown will be based on books. Each day between now and Opening Day 2008, I will pick a random book out of my library and excerpt a passage off the page number corresponding with the number of days remaining to the first pitch of the new season. I will try not to repeat a book during the countdown.

Today’s book is Final Rounds by James Dodson. In this passage, Dodson and his father, a World War II veteran, are playing a round of golf at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.

On the plus side, Dad showed no indication of fatigue whatsoever. There was even a discernible lilt in his step. At the frighteningly bunkered par-three fifth, he made a beautiful swing with his Big Bertha three-wood and caught an awful break – his ball striking the front of the green and kicking off into the right front trap. Mine reached the green, my first shot to reach in regulation. He followed next with an exquisite sand shot that left him a mere tap-in for par, his first par. I holed a ten-footer for par to prove I hadn’t only just taken up playing the game. The day was getting better in several respects.

“Did you wear your uniform when you played?” I asked him as we walked off toward six.

“Of course. Every time. We all did. It was wartime.”

I could picture him swinging in his staff sergeant’s uniform…

Put today’s excerpt in a baseball context.