The Boy of Summer

Have you ever felt the exhilaration of smashing a home ball into the stands, of throwing a 120 km/hour fast ball, or experiencing the sting of the baseball as it slapped into your glove. If you have, then you probably understand what it’s like to be one of the boys of summer. If not, then sit back and I’ll tell you what was like for a young boy named Michael.

His full name was Christopher Michael Cartwright known simply as Chip or sometimes Chipper to his friends.

One look at the him told you that he was no longer a child but a someone who was growing up and venturing into a life of independence. HIs friends were the mainstay of his existence and, because of his likeable nature, he had lots of those. His bedroom was his private sanctuary and he liked nothing better than to come home from school and retreat to his room with his X-box. On occasion his split personality got the better of him as this loving, polite, funny, and pleasant son became a back talking, sarcastic, arrogant, sometimes rude, swaggering blockhead. He never wanted to appear soft, so he would go overboard in proving that he was not only to revert to his amicable self once friends were out of the picture. In other words he was a typical 12 year boy. 

Chip was a cute little kid who loved baseball and dreamt that one day he, like all other professional baseball players, would be referred to as “a boy of summer”.

Always running with a baseball in his glove and his tousled blond hair flying in the wind he loved the excitement of hitting a home run over the right field fence or striking out an opposition team’s hitter. He followed every action of this favourite team, the Toronto Blue Jays, incessantly quoting a whole range of team and player statistics with near savant speed and accuracy. He would have been just as happy if everything in his wardrobe bore a Blue Jay’s logo. His hero; Toronto Blue Jay’s pitcher Pat Vendome because the two had the unique skill of being able to pitch equally well with either hand; so-called switch pitchers.

He started in T-ball when he was five simply because his parents weren’t allowed to register him any earlier. Although he wanted to be thirteen so he was eligible to play against the big kids, his dad kept reminding him that it didn’t matter because being born in December he would always play against kids that were a year older. Also, even though many boys were well on their way to manhood, Chip impatiently awaited any twinges of puberty. His slight build and average height left him in the middle of the pack.

Chipper sensed this would be the year he would know if there was any hope of becoming a boy of summer. He begged with his dad to allow him to tryout with the teenagers, reminding him that he’d grown a lot in the past year and was now one of the few kids on the team that could hit equally well right or left handed. He boasted that his last year’s batting average was second in the league and that he was its only switch pitcher.

He could see his dad was starting to weaken. 

Dad agreed his son had come a long way in the last year. His near obsession with working out with weights and his decision to join the track club to develop greater speed showed his new level of dedication. And when they went out to play catch together, his dad marvelled at the speed and accuracy with which he threw his curve ball. It really stung when he caught Chip’s 100 kilometre per hour fastballs.

He often wondered what had spurred the boy to teach himself to throw with both hands. Was it some innate ability or just by chance that he did it the year his right hand was incapacitated when he severed his right index finger? Whatever the reason, it had given him at a clear-cut advantage. In fact, if push came to shove, dad wondered silently if the kid’s future wasn’t as a left handed pitcher.

Now for the knock out blow, Chip thought.  

“Besides dad, Coach said based on the team’s talent, he believed we will qualify for the Little League World Series. That’ll mean playing against teams from all over the world and it won’t cost you a thing. It’s all paid for by the Tournament. Come on dad, he begged. I may never get this chance again — please!”.

Dad finally agreed with two conditions. First, mom had to agree and everyone knew convincing her wouldn’t be easy. Secondly, he didn’t want to see Chris’ school grades slipping because he was spending too much time playing baseball. Chris readily agreed to both although he knew convincing mom would take some of his best pleading. 

Mom’s initial response was a quick “no” followed quickly by a half-dozen reasons why not. She had no problem with him trying out with the thirteen and fourteen year olds but wouldn’t agree to him going to the World Series. “ We can’t afford to travel to Pennsylvania and I’m certainly not going to let you go alone.” she lectured. “Besides, you don’t even have a passport.” 

Chip knew he really didn’t want to go without his parents but couldn’t see an alternative. Surely there were other kids whose parents couldn’t afford to make the trip. Maybe if he asked Coach what others were doing he could come up with options. Mom agreed that he could ask around and report back but, in the meantime, no still meant no. 

Clearly that was a problem for another day Chip reasoned. First he had to make the Mavericks - his Little League team and then they would have to qualify for the World Series.

Chip had sent the winter working with his pitching and hitting coaches but as tryouts were in a week so he thought he’d better get to the baseball field and practice. Batting was easy. He could use the batting cages at the diamond. Pitching would be a little different. Where can I get a catcher, he wondered? Intuition told him that teammate and best friend Billy Schultz was the one because he was likely to be the team’s first string catcher anyway. It took about a second to convince Billy. Chip was now ready for a long, hard week of fine-tuning has skills.

The week flew by and before he knew it, tryouts started. He knew he would be evaluated on his ability to hit, field ground and fly balls, and throw. As he was a pitcher, he was also graded on the mechanics of his pitches, his ball speed and accuracy. They would also evaluate him on his overall attitude, hustle and behaviour. Then there would be a scrimmage to see how the players reacted in a game situation. This year, there was the added aspect that they would be video taping the tryouts to use later to help the kids and coaches alike. 

In his mind, Chipper thought the tryouts were going well. He made a great catch on a long fly ball when he was playing centre field. A ground ball hit to him in right field was no problem either. He scooped it up and toss it to first base just like he had been taught. When he was put in as pitcher he struck out three in a row. Granted they weren’t the team’s best hitters but still he struck out the side. 

When Coach said he wanted to see Chip pitch left handed he was ready. The first pitch was his four-fingered fast ball. “Strike One”, the Ump shouted. The second was an inside curve ball. With the crack of the bat Chip instinctively knew he was in trouble. He tried to duck but just wasn’t fast enough. The ball stuck him on the side of the head just above the left eye. He dropped like a stone. He didn’t pass out right away but grabbed this head and rocked back and forth in pain; blood streaming between his fingers. Someone screamed. His dad remembered jumping over the fence and running onto the field along with the coach. 

The trainers were already working on him feverishly when the ambulance arrived. Chip was conscious although groggy and was still bleeding heavily.

It was off to the emergency room where the doctors sewed up the gash in his head. By then, the left eye was swollen shut and turning from red to black and blue. Needless to say his face was a mess. The only thing he could think of was that his mom would kill him.

It wasn't until he returned to school the following week that Chip started experiencing headaches. It seemed he was dizzy and always felt like he was going to puke. His parents were able to get him in to see their doctor for a neurological evaluation. When Dr. Farhan saw the video of the accident there was little doubt. He asked Chip a series questions about his thinking, understanding, learning and memory. He also did some physical tests to see if they had any impact on his vision and balance. The result! Yes, Chip did have a concussion and it was severe. He was told to rest his brain, limit his time on his computer and get lots of sleep.

Out of an abundance of caution, it was eight whole months before Chip was cleared to play any sport. He really didn’t care about other sports because baseball was his only love. Besides, he still had headaches. He didn’t want to tell anybody because he was afraid they’d test him again and then say he couldn’t play. 

It was probably a good thing that baseball season wasn’t for another four months but he was going stir-crazy. Batting cages and practice fields were all closed because it was winter. The only thing left was to work out in the gym, get back in shape and build muscle. For that he went to his Coach who agreed to set him up with a program and to teach him some new pitches.

Finally it was June and baseball tryouts started. This time they went smoothly; in fact, not only did Chipper make the team but because of his winter conditioning program he was on the starting roster. 

According to Chip “it was a busy baseball season; too busy to worry about these stupid headaches.” He was afraid to tell anyone they were getting worse so he started taking some pain killers from his mom’s bathroom cupboard. That seemed to take care of most of the pain. 

Yes, there was practice twice a week followed by a league game. But in this special year there were also bottle drives, chocolate bar and meat sales and various other fundraising efforts. These were all designed to assist those families who weren’t able to afford to accompany their kids to Vancouver for the qualifying tournament and then, hopefully, the World Series. Based on the Coaches connections, the team’s parents were able to work a casino and several bingos to meet their money raising goal.There was also the need to arrange for passports for all the kids in anticipation of going to the World Series.  

The regular season was all Chipper had hoped for including winning the league championship. At the World Series qualifying tournament, the Mavs downed the host Vancouver Blazers, 3-1, with Chip posting a complete-game victory, allowing only six hits and striking out six. On offence, he had three hits in four trips to the plate and scored a run. 

The only downside was the incident when he was in Vancouver; the worst headache of his life. It felt like his head was going to explode. He knew he was going to have to tell his parents just not before they got home from the World Series. 

As for the World Series, the answer lies in an extract from the Little league World Series Gazette.

“Years later Mavs players will tell their grandchildren about that legendary Saturday.”

They will talk about how every pitch proved more important than the one before. How with every out, the roar of the crowd turned louder and louder. How six innings wasn’t enough to determine a winner.  And how seven innings turned into eight, and eight became nine, before the Calgary Maverick’s wrestled an 11-4 victory over the Ohio Buckeyes.

“Unbelievable,” said Mavs head coach Gary Pierson. “After the first few innings they had us on the brink of elimination. Our big hitters couldn’t make contact when it counted and routine fielding plays turned into errors. The result was we were down by one in the fifth inning of a six inning game. It was only a Buckeye error in the sixth that brought Mav third baseman Griff Williams around to score the tying run, and set up the showdown.

And what is there to say about Chip Cartright. He kept us in there. He surrendered a couple of home runs early but then settled in, ultimately using his 85th and final pitch as a right hander to strike out Ohio’s Kenzo Takio in the in the seventh. Then, because of his unique abilities as a switch pitcher, it was time to for him to become his own relief pitcher. He never allowed a Buckeye batter past first base in the 7th, 8th or 9th innings. Ohio’s relief pitchers didn’t stand a chance and allowed Chris to put a final exclamation point on the performance of a lifetime.

“Chipper was just awesome,” said Mavs second baseman Ben Mahood. “He was just out there throwing strikes all night.”

The screams of Mavs’ fans echoed throughout the 9th inning when the team batted around en route to seven runs and Little League supremacy. What voices they had left squawked out a chant of “Go Canada Go” as Cartwright retired Ohio’s Garrett Swith on a strikeout.

“Right now, I’m just a little speechless about what I just saw.” I just don’t even know whether I believe it,” said Pierson. 

Yes, it has been a tough road but the Mavericks headed home as Little League World Series Champions. And Chip well, his dreams of being a boy of summer were alive and well.

Once at home, he had little time to celebrate. It was now time to learn that life was going to get harder. What started out as headaches now included pressure that felt like his head would explode. His visit to the neurologist involved a whole battery of tests. Luckily for Chip, there was no tumor. Rather, he was diagnosed as having something called “persistent post concussive syndrome” which required no special treatment other than to manage his symptoms when they occurred just what his family doctor had told him last year. He’s just have to learn to live with the pain. As for baseball, he knew it was going to get harder but recognized that’s what was part of being a “boy of summer”. The hard was what made it great.

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