Adam's Story

by Adam Austin

My name is Adam.  I follow your page on Instagram and am currently wearing one of your shirts, but I saw your post about baseball stories.  I have been a long time lover and player of baseball and like many boys growing up I played baseball with my dad quite often.  My dad would pick me up every other day from school and we would go to the field in my small town and I would pitch him one bucket of balls.

 

One day we decided to go out before a game and get a little extra work in, so we headed out about an hour before we had to be at the field that weekend morning.  We stretched, warmed up, and were getting ready to do some light pitching work prior to my game.  Mind you my dad had been a champ throughout my learning to pitch as he got beat up quite often and left with more than one broken toe. This morning would lead to one of my favorite baseball stories ever.  

We stopped by the gas station on the way to the field and my dad got a cup of coffee.  He set it down outside of the left handed batters box in the bullpen and told me, "I don't care what you do just don't hit my coffee."  I didn't think there was any chance that I would throw a pitch that wild.  I wound up, and threw my first pitch of the day and bingo, I destroyed the cup of coffee.  I'm not talking a glancing blow, I hit the cup as perfect as you could possibly hit anything.  The lid shot straight up in the air,  the styrofoam about disappeared, and coffee went flying everywhere.  My dad was a little mad at first but then broke out into this intense laughter that I will never forget.

 

A few short years later my dad would be diagnosed with cancer and he would battle it off and on for another 5 years.  My dad, Lee Austin, would eventually lose his battle with cancer after beating the odds and getting sick with pneumonia.  I lost my dad when I was 17 years old but some of the best memories, and lessons I ever learned from him were out there on that diamond doing what we both loved.  

Today I am no longer playing but ran the baseball club at Sacramento State University last year, winning competitive club of the year, and earning the leadership award from the Student Organizations and Leadership Office at CSU Sacramento.  I am now pursuing a Masters Degree in Communication and am attempting to study baseball for my culminating experience.  This is just a brief glimpse into the impact baseball has had on my life and I am very thankful for the opportunity to share this story with you.  I hope you enjoyed it.

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