It's 9AM
Here’s What you do.
I get those words a lot.
Not that I need them.
Or maybe I need them more than most.
After all, I’ve got the kind of face that people like to open up to about their problems.
Their dreams, hopes, ambitions and if we’ve had a couple of drinks, maybe even the lies they tell themselves and others.
It’s because I listen.
And ask questions.
And remember.
I think that’s what gets people the most.
The questions.
Not in a third degree, where were you on the night of the fifth kind of way.
But more like a, I can’t wait for you to tell me more kind of way.
Want to know my secret?
I’m interested in what you have to say.
I want to know what you think, how your mind works.
I’m curious about you.
It shows when we talk.
Bill Clinton had a gift.
He could make you feel like you were the only person in a room, and that he was only interested in what you had to say.
I felt it when I met him as a teenager, before the rest of America knew who he was.
I’m not that good.
But I am genuine.
Call it because I have a variety of interests and an insatiable desire to learn.
To know.
Like baseball.
Would you believe I didn’t follow ball seven years ago?
Then, a little kid stole my heart and asked me a question.
“Can we play catch?”
Those little games evolved into me asking questions about a ton of things.
About reading about baseball and watching more than just The World Series.
I’d been to some minor league games before, but it was mostly for a couple of beers, a hot dog and some friends.
I learned about the game because someone else loved it.
It’s my approach to a lot of things.
Don’t call me a latecomer though.
I have very fond memories of my brother playing Little League.
Fond memories of my cousin playing and my uncle coaching.
Listening to their stories and knowing the history of baseball in Pine Bluff.
Maybe say I’m a prodigal son to America’s pastime, though to speak with me now, you might not know it.
So much so I have an idea I want to share with you.
A small business you can start in your hometown.
Maybe you can give me some advice about it, because I don’t have time to make it happen yet.
If you follow baseball, there are a bunch of little leagues all over.
There’s a wood bat league, maybe called the Sunset League?
There are minor league teams affiliated with the MLB, and teams no longer affiliated with MLB that continue on their own.
You could probably point out a dozen more.
A lot of high school ball players go into coaching their kids once they’re old enough.
Some go to college to play, and after college, if they’ve still got the itch, they may play softball.
How do you combine the nostalgia for baseball with a way to increase community and bring people together?
Here’s my thought.
In Little Rock, there are seven high schools.
They shut down from June through August, except for some day use when teachers are doing their CE or getting ready for the next school year.
These schools all have baseball fields.
What if you created a Friday Night or Saturday night baseball league for ball players out of high school/college?
It is the same concept as softball leagues, but utilizing the ball fields around the high schools and the talents of a bunch of folks in their twenties.
I envision concession stands and even food trucks, pre-game entertainment, and brand new mascots to create rivalries.
You could literally be a Jet for life, if the mascot’s right!
You could coordinate with high school groups to work the gate for a $5 entry fee to pay security. (Because in this day, you need two things for sure. Insurance and security)
It could get people out of their houses and together in the stands to watch still viable athletes compete.
And under the right management, it could become something, with little micro-leagues in the state competing against each other.
Maybe there’s something like this in states outside of Arkansas now.
Would something like that get you out of the house?
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