This past weekend I was asked to be the Key Note speaker for the Bethesda Big Train’s (a collegiate summer league team located in Bethesada Maryland) annual live auction and benefit dinner. It was a big honor, usually reserved for guys with long, detailed baseball careers full of war stories and commnents like, “in my day, we didn’t have things like K-zones and slow motion, and penicillin…” This year, they got me and my ever evolving list of embarrassments.
Well, thats not entirely true, they got me and Tim Kurkjian— the hardest working man in ESPN funded baseball analyzing. Tim is local to the Bethesda area, so he’s a perennial guest, showing up to spread cheer and detailed baseball insight to the baseball hungry masses. Though small in stature, Tim’s heart is huge and I mean huge. There are few guys out there with as much class as Tim, and I’d say that even if he didn’t blurb for my book, or pay me to do so. All kidding aside, he’s a man of integrity and it was an honor to share the evening with him.
As for the Big Train, it’s one well organized, well connected program—It has to be! There is a lot of competition for funding in the greater DC area. I can’t think of many collegiate level summer programs out there with the panache to pull in an ESPN figure, a dork like me, host a benefit dinner, and acquire thousands of dollars worth of donated goods for a charity auction from all manner of high profile sources in the heart of Washington. But, The Big Train IS one of the finest programs in the US. In fact, It’s a landmark franchise that’s raised millions to publicly maintain ball fields, help the community and otherwise impact thousands of aspiring youngsters. And, it’s the only team in history I’ve ever been thrown off of…. That’s a long story.
In the mean time, here are some pics from the event. Many of you have wondered what my cartooned baseballs look like. I did one for the Big Train trophy case and you can see it below.
You can also grab a copy of the book we’re holding here. Or book* me to speak with your gathering here.
*book and book… get it? Cut. It. Out!
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