Ode To An Opening Day (Rainout)

The thrill of the grass

The brown of the dirt

The smell of the leather

Wait: my jock strap hurts.

Did the equipment guys

Give me one too small?

If that’s the case

I will kill them all!

I can’t play six months

In this kind of pain.

Oh wait. Never mind.

It just started to rain.

From, “Opening Day Thoughts,” a Designated Writers Work in Progress

What does today’s Opening Day of the 2018 Major League Baseball season have to do with the end of the political career of Dave Norris, who has basically been the Babe Ruth of West Monroe as its mayor since 1978?

I shouldn’t even have to write this…but plenty.

Designated Co-Founder John James Marshall wrote in yesterday’s Daily Happen of his fascination with Mayor Norris’ career. As I heard a caller say once on sports talk radio, “I occur.”

Guess who was batting leadoff for the Cincinnati Reds when Mayor Norris took office? Pete Rose. Junior Kennedy was on that team. Ron Oester (pictured above) was on that team. RON OESTER! (Oester is in the Reds Hall of Fame, by the way. Steady! There IS no baseball without the Ron Oesters of the world.)

When Kirk Gibson hit the homer off Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series to send Los Angeles to an upset sweep of Oakland, Mayor Norris was mayor.

He was mayor when Omar Vizquel was a starter on the 1998 American League All-Star team. He was mayor during every one of Greg Maddux’s four consecutive Cy Young seasons. And he was mayor when the Houston Astros were horrible (most of the past 40 years) and when they were World Champions (now), and when West Monroe High was bad in sports (the first half of his administration) and when the Rebels were wonderful in sports (the final two decades of his administration).

How I knew Mayor Norris was as the lead singer of The Pacemakers Quartet. When we first moved to Louisiana from South Carolina, he and his singing mates were a complete fascination to me. They came and sang at our church. I might have been the only 14-year-old guy in West Monroe who could sing along with all The Pacemarkers’ songs. And that was before he was mayor, so I was not in it for the political favors.

I went to school with his nephews, had deep respect for his brother, admire his wife, and now am fortunate to work with his son. I am grateful that he has served in my mom’s hometown for 40 baseball seasons. As he does, I wish the city and the new mayor the best of everything.

It’s a new season. Let’s play ball!

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