Polyester and Astroturf: May 2018

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Some Jack Scribner Highlights

Haven't posted anything in a while; need to get back in the swing of it and hopefully will soon. In the meantime, I'm just posting some videos of Jack here so I have access to them in a quick and easy-to-find location.

Jack goes deep against Elk Rapids senior year

Jack's last regular season game of high school. Less than a week later, he would be diagnosed with leukemia. He was already feeling pretty ill and incredibly weak (he is noticeably winded each at bat upon reaching first base), but he went 3 for 3 nonetheless. Here is what I posted on Facebook at the time:

Of all the (very many) things for which I am proud of Jack, near the top of the list would be his resilience. He started this season in the worst slump of his life, going 1/19. Though he was down, he kept working hard, and from that point on (over the last five weeks), he has had the second highest batting average (.378) and highest on base percentage (.521) on his high school team. Today, in the final regular season game of his career, he capped things off with a 3/3 performance at the plate. Next up: District Playoffs on Saturday!

Little did we know how valuable that resilience would be in the very near future.

Jack comes up big against Linden junior year. He hadn't been playing a ton, but with family visiting from out of town, he got the start at first base this day. With family (and the TV cameras) on hand, Jack did not disappoint!

Varsity fall ball against Davison sophomore year. Davison won the league with their pitchers allowing only NINE runs all season. Three of those came here as Jack got a two-out, bases loaded walk-off triple in Davison's only loss. One of my favorite moments from his baseball career.

Here are two of the other runs Davison allowed that season. That's right, as a sophomore facing varsity players, Jack drove in five of the nine runs they allowed on the season!

First Varsity Hit

Sophomore year; JV walk-off winner over Carman-Ainsworth

12-year old Grand Blanc Little League championship game. Jack on the mound trying to pick up the save. His team (the Cardinals!) was up 19-18 with two outs and the tying run on base...

And some basketball, too...

Senior Night

And going REAL old school...

Welcome to Polyester and Astroturf

I have been a sports fan in general and a baseball fan in particular for as long as I can remember. One of my most distinct early childhood memories is of my mom taking me to Busch Stadium, where we would sit in the left field bleachers and watch our favorite player, Lou Brock.

Sunday afternoon games were when they'd have the giveway games for kids such as Hat Day, Ball Day, or Bat Day (a lawsuit waiting to happen), so that's when we usually went. We would go to the 8:00 church service, make a sack lunch, and go wait for the gates to open so that we could be among the first to enter, ensuring us a front row seat.

I suppose it was these experiences that birthed my love for baseball as well as my love for baseball memorabilia. In later years, as teenagers, my friend Craig and I would spend the entire day at the stadium, getting autographs of players before and after the game. We waited for the Cardinals in the parking garage or we'd go down the street and stake out the visiting team's hotel lobby.

Over the years, I added to these mementos various souvenirs and other items. When my wife and I bought our first house, I had a room in the basement that she graciously allowed me to turn into my "sports room." In it I displayed much of the memorabilia I had collected over the years. Most of it had only sentimental value, but it was fun to relive the memories every time I entered the room.

In 2006, we moved to Flint, Michigan. Unfortunately for me, the house we purchased did not have an extra room for my stuff, and as a result, most of it has remained boxed in our basement ever since. I started this blog as a means of remembering and sharing. Remembering what I had, and remembering the events connected to those items; and sharing in this space both those items as well as my thoughts about them.

The color scheme of the blog is very intentionally patterned after the Cardinal road uniforms of the late 70s and early 80s. For some reason, baby blue was in vogue, and the color always evokes memories of this era for me. Much the same, polyester and astroturf were staples at the time, hence the title of the blog.

I hope you enjoy my trip down memory lane...I know I will. And please feel free to share your comments as well.