When I started my teaching career (it lasted two years) back in 1974, one of the English teachers drew my attention to a poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.  The gist of it is this:  January 21^st,  Drinking wine this afternoon, I notice the days are getting longer. I have remembered those words ever since.  It signaled to me that Spring is coming and with it baseball season. 

The colleges start baseball on February 1 and Spring Training for Major League Baseball starts in about a month.  Those are good things to think about and it all starts with the days getting longer. 

The Day I Learned about Discipline

In the early 80s we had a very nice team in Dundas and Lew Olson was our leader.  Lew hit 38 home runs in 42 games in 1982.  The Dukes won the State Tournament that year and Lew was the tournament MVP. 

Jim Fuchs was the manager of the Dukes then and it was a family atmosphere.  Many times the whole team would end up at Jim's place playing games and socializing until early in the morning.  It would usually end up with scrambled eggs and wieners for everyone.  Jim would get a couple of hours sleep and then when every one else got up and went home, he would have to get up and milk his cows. 

One fourth of July, everyone went out to a lake lot on General Shields Lake.  It was a Saturday, we had played a game that day and had another game in Red Wing the next day.  The party started late in the afternoon and the whole team, wifes and girlfriends were all in attendance.  There was a little boating, some water games, and a lot of food and drink. 

After it got dark, Jim's son Jeremy set off the $300 dollars of fireworks that I had mail ordered from out of state.  It was an impressive display and he did a nice job of making it last.  Finally, everyone decided that we should call it a night and get home so we would make a good showing against Red Wing the next day. 

Lew mentioned that he needed a ride to the park the next day.  He was staying in Northfield with a friend and didn't have a car available.  I lived in Minneapolis at the time and it would have been out of the way for me.  When I left he was still checking with different players for a ride. 

Sunday came and everyone was in Red Wing taking batting practice and getting ready for infield practice.  All of a sudden we realized that Lew was no where to be found.  After asking around I couldn't find anyone that had promised Lew a ride.  Finally he arrived about ten minutes before game time.  He said that the person that had promised to give him a ride hadn't shown up and he ended up getting a ride with long-time Dukes fan John Bickel.

When game time rolled around Lew was not in the starting lineup and he couldn't believe it.  Jim Fuchs had made out the lineup before Lew got there and he wasn't going to change it.  Lew begged and threatened but to no avail.  He was riding the bench (probably for the first time in his life). 

As the game got going, Lew decided that he was going to take a few swings in the batting cage that was right by the visitor's dugout.  As soon as Lew started swinging the Red Wing dugout went wild.  They were out to the umpire imploring him to shut down Lew because it wasn't legal to take swings during the game.  Once Lew got back to the dugout, the game resumed. 

I can't remember who won the game that day.  I do know that Lew got to play after a few innings.  When I asked Jim why he didn't start Lew his response was "I need some discipline on this team." 

As Lew rode home with me later in the day, I asked why he was late.  His response was that the ride that he had lined up the night before never showed up.  "Who was supposed to pick you up?"  I asked.  "Fuchs," he said.   

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