The Lead Off: December

Clint Hurdle

Photo: Perfect Game

Hello 👋🏻 December!

Outside of Playoff baseball ⚾️ December …”Tis the most wonderful time of the year.” In my opinion!😜

Congratulations to The Houston Astros!
2022 World Series Champions.🏆
Best team in MLB this year. Hands down.
Shout out to my friend Dusty Baker! 👊
Class act! Dustiny happened!😆

Before I get going, I promised you a 2022 Halloween Photo of our family. We love ❤️ Halloween. We wanted to honor Olivia Newton John’s passing and pay tribute to one of the all-time greatest musicals ….”Grease”.

I give you the Pink Ladies & The T-Birds!

Alrighty then. Blog ON!

Much to be thankful and grateful for as we celebrated Thanksgiving. There were a few empty seats at our family table this year, however, we are blessed with many family members that are healthy and happy.

Perfect Game Cares threw a two-day extravaganza at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Golf Course. Festivities started on November 17 with the PG Hall of Fame Gala. Daron Sutton emcees the event and he is gifted when it comes to storytelling and sharing! I LOVE YOU DARON!

He is never not good on stage in front of a microphone.

We celebrated the second wave of players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame as well as some other young PG players and fundraisers. Francisco Lindor stole the show!!!

All funds raised are geared to the Perfect Game Cares Non-Profit Foundation. This program is spearheaded by Jennifer Ford and in Carly Simon’s words…”No one does it better!” Jerry Ford, our founder and all-around big-hearted man, added during the event that reaching out to the underserved communities and sharing the game of baseball with them is one of his biggest accomplishments. No argument here, as Betty and Jerry Ford have touched so many lives on their journey.

Many they aren’t even aware of.

How many of these kids will become fans or help others out as they grow up?

That’s pure gold!

Day 2 brought on the Perfect Game Cares “Fore the Kids” Charity Golf Tournament. ⛳️🏌️
Beautiful day.
Beautiful course.
Beautiful cause.

We all had a blast and we continued the fundraising efforts!

Special thanks to all the participants and sponsors for their contributions of time and talent! And tithe ($$$$) 😜

As I start to close this blog, I’m going to share another letter with you as I believe it has impact and influence and needs to be shared with young and old players, former players, wanna be players...

Last month of the year.
Time for reflection.
Don’t miss out.
Don’t miss a pitch.

⚾️

Thanks to my friend Will George for sharing Jeff Schaefer and his heartfelt thoughts...All who are baseball lovers will get this and I think we should share this with every player in the MLB, minor leagues, college and high school. This is beautifully stated.

⚾️

One Day This Won’t Be Your Life Anymore

One day you will walk off the field for the last time. One day you will untie your cleats forever. One day you will put your glove in your bag and there it will stay for months at a time. One day your tan lines will fade. You’ll forget the feeling of seams beneath your fingers. You’ll struggle to remember the way it felt to hit the perfect pitch. You’ll see your teammates once or twice a year instead of every single day. You won’t slide into second. You won’t round first. One day you’ll be on the other side the fence.

One day this won’t be your life anymore. And when it’s not, you won’t remember the things that you’d think. You’ll have no idea how many times you struck out. You won’t know how many errors you made. You won’t be impressed with how many home runs you hit. You won’t care about your batting average or ERA. For the most part, you won’t remember wins and losses at all.

After your last inning has come and gone, you’re going to remember the times when you wanted to quit — but didn’t. You’re going to remember the teammates (and families) you loved along the way. You’re going to remember playing in the freezing cold, driving rain, and unbearable heat. You’re going to remember the hotel bonding and the eight hour road trips. You’re going to remember the early practices and late games. You’re going to remember the coaches that never gave up on you. But most of all, you’re going to remember the sheer happiness that came only from being between two chalk lines. You’re going to remember the moments you did more than you ever believed you could. You’re going to remember the times you used every bit of talent God gave you.

One day this won’t be your life anymore. So for today, run as fast as your feet will take you. Whether it’s a pop up to the pitcher or it bounces off the fence in left field. For today, swing as hard as you can. Commit to every pitch and give it everything you have. For today, make every play like it’s the last chance you’ll ever get. For today, play because you want to. Play because you need to. Play because the little boy you used to be fell in love with this game all those years ago.

For today, don’t stop until the last pitch is thrown. Play with every piece of your heart and leave it all on the field. One day, this won’t be your life anymore. When that day comes, make sure you wouldn’t change a thing.

Make a difference today
Love, Clint

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