April 15, 2011

I know that name....

My wife Cheryl does this thing every now and then when she sees or hears a player’s name; she says to me, “I went to high school with a so-and-so.” For the most part, the player has no relation what-so-ever to the person she went to high school with, but that doesn’t discourage her from going down that road every now and then.

A few years ago, I mentioned a name of a baseball player from Long Beach State; his name was Sean Boatright. I don’t remember the circumstances surrounding the conversation, but as soon as the name came up, Cheryl says to me “I went to high school with a Bob Boatright.” She went on to tell me that he was a pretty big time athlete at Millikan, where she went to school.

Turns out – that Sean Boatright is the son of Bob Boatright.

So, why do I bring up Sean Boatright today? Well, Marcia C. Smith of the Orange County Register wrote a column Thursday about Sean Boatright’s attempt for a come-back.

Sean played at Long Beach State with Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria along with Jered Weaver. Rather than try to retell the story that Smith writes, I invite you to read her column.

There’s something that’s always intriguing, interesting and even inspiring about a person who sets out to achieve a dream.

Coincidently, I saw Boatright this past January at the Long Beach State Dirtbag Alumni game at Blair Field in Long Beach and meant to tell Cheryl about it and then promptly forgot until I read the column in the OC Register.

Boatright will begin his come-back with the Calgary Vipers, an Independent League team. He has a long road ahead of him, but here’s hoping his dream comes true. It would make for a great story for sure.

I know two people (Cheryl and myself) who will be tracking his progress towards his goal!