Podcast: Jim “The Rookie” Morris on his new book and encountering Braves legend Hank Aaron

“Sand lot-ing”  a Hank Aaron Ball

Jim’s father was in the military, so he moved station to station all across the country. While living in Connecticut, he and his friends would still make sure they went outside and played baseball, even if it was in the snow.

One of the things you’ll pick up on and appreciate when you read the book is his real love for the game of baseball. Not even blistering Northeastern snowstorms could stop this crazy kid from playing the game.

The problem with playing in the snow is that water is not good for a baseball. As he put it, one “fateful winter day” they ran out of baseballs. They had either ruined or lost all of the balls they brought along for the day.

They still had some feeling left in their fingers and decided that they must continue the game. Jim recalled that he still had one ball at home he could get. He ran home and grabbed his autographed Hank Aaron baseball.

I know, you are questioning his judgment and the fact that the state of Texas allowed him to eventually become a teacher. This is just one child’s opportunity to learn a lesson in risk management. I will warn you, the next few lines of this article may be extremely disturbing for some readers.

By the end of their session, they had not lost the Hank Aaron ball, although it may have been better if they did. The ball was so waterlogged that Jim wrote “It weighed about 10 pounds.” The signature was no more.