Despite what the weatherman brings us, it must be spring because I hear the voice of the Boston Red Sox’s Joe Castiglione coming through my radio dial at AM 620, WZON, The Sports Zone.
Wait, the TV’s on too, and there’s Don Orsillo from NESN. Shelly must have turned that on. I know for certain that my son Nate wouldn’t have switched that over from SpongeBob Squarepants. I’m not dreaming. I made it, I’m thinking. I survived the winter.
Knowing that it means summer is close behind, I settle in, paying attention all the while to the rest of the game, exhibition or not.
I don’t care.
You see, when you’re in the world that I occupy, the end of the high school basketball season means there’s a brief respite, followed by baseball, and lots of it.
I’m so old that I coached Calais High boys coach Eddie Leeman on an all-star team when he was a senior in high school at Calais. He hit a deep shot to win that year’s American Heart Association — that’s what the McDonald’s games were called back then — all-star game at the buzzer. Yes, he was a hero.
This year, Eddie’s son Jordan hit a number of key shots for his own Calais team. Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Yes, I made it to spring.
Life will change around my house now. What with the Red Sox on TV and on the radio, I can look at my deck — after clearing it off — and get ready for sunny afternoons and baseball and settle into that book I’m continuing to write or the wealth of letters I don’t write during the winter.
You see, I hibernate with the local bear — yes, we really have one out here — and rest in the winter. I’m annoying to friends. I don’t go out much, except for an occasional game or two. I’m regarded as a bit of a recluse — don’t worry, no beard, etc. — and I keep close to the house.
But now there’s baseball again, in all its sedated glory. Castiglione and Orsillo are the voices of my summer.
They recall the days from my father’s back seat and long trips to Machias and Camden to visit relatives and friends on Sunday afternoons. They bring back memories of Curt Gowdy and the smells of summer breezing through Dad’s front window.
Baseball was always on the air. Not much TV back then, believe it or not. It was radio, and how I loved it.
I used to close my eyes and take it all in. It was the sound of summer, and I breathed that sound. How glorious it was for a young boy, who would grow up, never realizing that it was all becoming part of the fabric of his life.
And it’s here again — finally.
30-Second Time Out
News out of Boston that ex-Celtic Sam Cassell may go into coaching caught my eye.
Cassell, the former Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield prep star, certainly had a good example or two while he played for the preppers under head coach Max Good and assistant coach Carl Parker.
Parker, the former head coach of the boys basketball program at Bangor High School, was recently featured in the new magazine, “The Real AAU Basketball.” Carl is regarded in AAU circles as one of the top coaches in the country.
Best wishes to Sam as he continues to move along the basketball highway. He’s one of the NBA’s good guys.