Earlier this year ago I sat down in the Missouri State University baseball players lounge with a shortstop from Warsaw, MO. He’s the best player from the area since, I suppose, his brother, who was drafted by Tampa Bay in…
Tag: jake burger
I was writing up an interview with Jeremy Eierman, a 21-year-old junior shortstop at Missouri State and highly touted MLB draft prospect. But then I read that Jake Burger had been carted off the field after suffering an Achilles injury….
I took a photo of this ballplayer in June and I wondered how he got here. So I wrote this: “Can he hit a curveball? How many times has he taken cuts at batting cages attached to mini-golf courses? Maybe…
After the final out I stood in the dugout and watched TCU celebrate, keeping an eye out for a 6-foot horned frog hopping around the field. Kool and the Gang blared over the PA system, reminding me of dancing at…
I know that home run talk is like fishing tales, and I’ve got a thesis full of those. Still, last Friday afternoon I sat in the front row by the visitors dugout at Hammons Field. A fan behind me asked if…
I wandered into the stadium at 10 a.m. on Sunday. After spending years volunteering with Lutherans I have plenty of prayer credit. Oh, the Lord’s name came up today. Missouri State played Illinois State once more, and though it appeared…
We start at 11:03 p.m., like it’s June in Alaska and we can play under the midnight sun. Jake Burger taps the freshly painted plate, a half-hour after receiving the player of the year award. He walks. Illinois State is…
A baserunner The batter twists when the ball bruises his back. He jogs toward first base and stands up straight. He does not reach over his shoulder to hold the aching muscle. Instead he ignores it, speaking to the first base…