The Riverside Letter.

A mark of pride for the Riverside athlete.

I earned my letter in baseball which was the only sport that offered a letter at the time! Lucky me.

I played center field although it turns out that I was a very good second baseman. The coach once remarked that I was helpful to play in center field because the Mom of the second baseman was a real pain in the ass.

Maybe that's why I got my letter. Not so much service to center field, but service to Coach's piece of mind.

Well, whatever it takes.

Not quite. I have one thing to get off my chest after 50 years.

I was a damn good pitcher, not that I got the chance. The coach had alread pegged me for a lousy outfielder. Yeah, that's because I was nearsighted, which wouldn't be discovered for another 9 years! However, I had a great infield arm and could pitch hard and fast.

During one practice, and I remember this as if it were yesterday, Coach called me off the bench to pitch a few, that is, if I could get a couple of balls across the plate.

The first batter came up to the plate and I struck him out. Then the next came to the plate and I stuck him out, too. And the next, and the next. Finally, Coach came to the mound and told me I didn't have "team spirit" and sent me to the outfield.

Ah, the 50's. Not like today. Yeah, right.