Eikenhout : Roofing, Siding and Windows

Detroit Tigers changed my life

Someone asked me the other day when my love for baseball began.  Easy question.  My addiction started when I was very young.  I remember sitting on the neighbors front porch with my dad in the early summer evenings, listening to Ernie Harwell call the games.   What I remember most is not the particular plays, the strike outs or even the home runs but the conversation and bantering going back and forth between adults.

There were great stories from the old days and hopeful stories of next years season.  This repetitive experience intrigued me and inspired me to love baseball and to want to play from dawn to dusk.

Then a cast of unique characters called the “68” Tigers finally answered all of our prayers and won the world series.  They were so colorful and inspiring.  Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Mickey Lolich, Al Kaline, Denny McClain, Willie Horton, Gates Brown, GR’s own Mickey Stanley.  I couldn’t get enough.  I even snuck a small transistor radio into class as a freshman at Catholic Central so I wouldn’t miss a game.  Does anybody remember day games?  Those Tigers were my heroes.

Thirty years after that world series championship, the Tigers held a “68” reunion in Lakeland for the Tiger’s Fantasy Camp.  I had to attend that camp.  To see your childhood heroes in person was amazing, but to have them coach you and play along side them, awesome.  Imagine Al Kaline showing you how to swing or Mickey Lolich showing you how to throw a curve ball.  I was a kid all over again.

My first Tiger memory is over 40 years old and that famous fantasy camp was 12 years ago, but my passion for baseball and the Detroit Tigers is as strong and real as if I am back on my neighbor’s porch.  Can you hear Ernie?

It has influenced my life and I want to pass on that legacy.  I coached my son and daughter’s teams for 9 years and participated in five fantasy camps at the Whitecaps.  I was a season ticket holder for the first 14 years of the Whitecaps.

I am still like a kid when it comes to baseball, and I have a hard time passing up opportunities to watch baseball games.  Any team, any place, any time, it doesn’t matter.  To hear the Ump yell “Play Ball” triggers those memories and rekindles the passions for a game that really is more than just a game.  (Mike Chase)