“I bet you’ve never played catch with someone who was formerly dead,” Ben said.
The end of the school day and the beginning of my daughters’ after-school activities do not coordinate nicely with the MSU Baseball Bears schedule. As a result, I follow most games via Twitter or listen to them on the radio if I’m responsible for transportation.
I played catch with Art (Day #25) on a beautiful day in January, seeking him out as a local Royals fan. Only while listening to Art call a Bears game that ended in a rather disappointing loss did I have the idea to reach out to his partner in the broadcasting booth, Ben.
“College baseball literally saved my life,” Ben replied and then sent me a link to this video.
Ben and I met at Fassnight Field, he in Giants orange, me sporting Royals blue.
In 2015, Ben was a second year professor at Stetson University. On Friday the 13th day of February, he attended the first game of the season having become a fan of the Hatters the previous season.
“If I had not been at that game, I wouldn’t be standing here today. The woman who found me was a player’s mom. I was leaned over the rail in front of me with a hoodie on. She knelt down to peek under the hoodie and she said I was as blue as the bill on your cap. Eyes and mouth open. No pulse. A puddle of drool at my feet. She had been watching me for at least five minutes before she did anything.”
At the stadium, various people with medical training performed mouth breaths and chest compressions. Ben was shocked twice at the field by the Stetson athletic trainer and two more times on the way to the hospital. He has no memory of the week leading up to that event. Two weeks later, he was sent home.
Ben was diagnosed with idiopathic ventricular tachycardia.
“It basically means an electrical malfunction of my heart that lasted less than a millisecond.”
Ben is a walking miracle. After hearing his story, I completely forgot to say anything about the 2014 World Series.
“I couldn’t tell you, sadly, the last time I played catch.”
We tossed the ball and Ben told me about life in the broadcast booth. I am fairly certain I would not make a very good play by play or color announcer. I get too wrapped up in the emotions of the game as a fan.
For the second time in his life, Ben is a professor at MSU. One of the classes he teaches is called “Sponsorships in Entertainment and Sport.” He has also consulted through a platform he created called “Red Seat Strategy” — Stand Out. Go Far.
Inspired on a visit at Fenway Park, Ben sat in the same section as the famous Ted Williams red seat — Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21.
On June 9, 1946, Williams hit a mammoth home run that landed 502 feet away. The chair was first painted red in 1984 memorializing Williams’ blast.
My favorite red seat in baseball is the Royals’ Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat just a few rows behind home plate. It’s where Buck used to watch the boys in blue play and is now given to someone who honors his legacy of hope and service to the KC community.
My family is talking about taking a catch-playing road trip. Maybe two. I asked Ben for any advice he might have.
“First things first, each day is truly a gift, so you need to be sure you enjoy the trip. What brings you the most pleasure through the trip will resonate with others. Second, realize you’re doing the biggest part just by going. That’s the real crux. So many people live their lives saying ‘Some day’ or ‘One of these days’ and wind up never doing anything, or doing it on such a smaller scale that they then live with the regrets. Just go, enjoy the doing.”
I asked the same last question I ask almost everyone: What is baseball teaching you about life?
“Baseball can literally save your life. It’s a game that teaches patience, over and over again. Sometimes, no matter how diligent you have to try, there is still a gap between effort and execution. The game of baseball reminds me that you have to work extremely hard, can’t expect everything you do to be successful, and you have to be patient.”
It’s been said time and time again that baseball is a game of inches.
Now I have proof it is also a game of life and death.
