I Was A Despised Jew Benchwarmer for the Parkway Pirates
The sound of sprinklers It was my stupid idea to That summer began as most Or so I thought. "Boys," my dad I protested. Lloyd, also "That’s not good I knew what was coming next. "We want to join the "You do?" asked "We do?" asked "Yeah," I said. "You guys play baseball?" I told him that the Japanese "So that makes you "It’s the Parkway My dad reluctantly agreed. • "You We just ignored her as we "Hiya guys," I "Oh look," said Everyone laughed except "I didn’t know All the kids start chanting, "That’s enough!" I turned around and saw And his girlfriend. Dawn. Who had the biggest breasts All the kids got quiet. "I’m Coach Andrews." "Wow," was all "And," added Kurt, I should have guessed from "So there will be no The first day of practice The next Saturday was our "Fucking hippie," Ignoring her, we ran out "How’s it going "Groovy," said "Groovy is far out," "Far out," Seth "Well," said Kurt, A few minutes later, after "A doggie!" I Dawn quickly pulled down I told him that they were "Uh-huh," said "A cigarette," "Groovy," said At the end of practice that Lloyd and I, very excited "Six dollars?" "It has our name on "Back when I was in "Buy them yourselves," I looked at the canned asparagus, "Come on, Lester," "Are you telling me "Yes I am, dickhead," My dad, through his clenched Another Saturday night at The following Tuesday Lloyd So Lloyd and I give Kurt Dawn, overhearing this, • It’s Since it was a home game, "Okay, Lloyd and George," "I do!" I said, "You’ll stink "At least I take showers," "You’ll flip for Three outs later, Lloyd The bottom of the first As I stare at the pitcher So I’m standing on Kurt runs out to me and As Kurt runs over and gives "Can I wear my other "Sorry, George," "What’s the matter, "Shut up," I say Two bad pitches are thrown "What’s the matter?" With that, I punch the kid Finally, Kurt, Dawn, Seth Lloyd tells him it isn’t • The rest But not everything was bad. Then, at the last game, But it did. And when the But one that remains.
and smell of freshly cut grass greeted my senses that summer, every Saturday
morning, as I made my way out onto the baseball diamond that was exclusively
for my Little League team, the Parkway Pirates. Well, not Little League, actually.
More like Mini-League or Bush League. I was in the fifth grade, my brother Lloyd
in the fourth. And we were the only Jewish members
of the team.
join the team in the first place. Maybe if my dad had played more catch with
me in the backyard, instead of dressing up like a woman under his business suits,
my yearning for big hard balls and stiff bats wouldn’t have led me down
the road to hardball hell.
others did for a Jewish kid living in Greenwich, CT. With relief. I wouldn’t
have to ride the bus to school every day where the kids would beat the shit
out of me just for having a big nose. Instead, I would get to stay home and
play with my Captain Action and Dr. Evil dolls, or ride along on my "Chopper"
bicycle as my brother Lloyd raced his 10-speed up and down the driveway while
my youngest brother Seth tried keeping up on his Schwinn.
said to us about the third day into our freedom, "you have to get off your
asses and do something this summer."
protesting, claimed that this was the summer his two new gerbils were going
to be launched into orbit. That he had built an Estes rocket that took four
D engines and had padded the payload section with nonflammable material so this
time his "astronauts" would survive, and not end up as "Timmy"
and "Jimmy" did–cat barbecue. Seth, my future doctor brother,
who was just going into the third grade, said that this summer he was going
to dissect all his stuffed animals and "then put them back together again."
The previous summer, he had just left them in pieces.
enough," said my dad in a stern voice. "This summer I want you boys
to learn the value of money."
Jobs. Work. And there was no way I’d have any of that.
Parkway Pirates," I blurted out, surprising myself as much as my dad, Lloyd
and Seth.
my dad.
my brothers.
I explained how much we loved the Yankees, which we did. I explained that baseball
was the great American pastime (I’d read that in the World Book Encyclopedia
from 1972; the ones that were white with the green trim).
asked my dad. "You little pussies won’t even play touch football when
Uncle Marty and Uncle Wuzzie come to visit. Do you guys know the first thing
about baseball?"
baseball mitts he’d got us had been put to some use. We had played catch
with one another at least twice, and that Grampa Jack, his father, also played
catch with us every once in a while, when he wasn’t driving golf balls
and having us chase them.
good enough for a team?" my dad asked.
Pirates," I told my dad, "they’ll take anyone. It’s not
like it’s a real team or anything. Just kids from school."
fucking little brats are going to have to join a car pool or something,"
my stepmother Connie bitched at us as she dropped us off at Parkway Elementary
the first Saturday morning for baseball practice. "Either that, or ride
your bikes. It’s only 11 miles."
usually did and ran out to where a bunch of kids had gathered and were tossing
the ol’ hardball around.
said, excited. I saw some of my classmates, as well as others I’d seen
around the hallways or cafeteria.
one kid with straight blond hair and blue eyes, "it’s the Jews!"
Lloyd, Seth and me.
Jews played with baseballs," yelled another kid, whose name was James Smith,
a guy in my math class. "I thought they only played with matzo balls!"
"Jews! Jews! Jews! Jews!"
I suddenly heard a man yell.
him. Our coach. Kurt.
I’d ever seen.
All the kids stared at him. "But you can call me Kurt. And this is my girlfriend
Dawn. She’ll be helping me coach you guys this summer."
I could mumble.
"I’m Jewish."
his fro.
more name-calling. Of any type. Got that?"
went well. Kurt hit a lot of balls out into the field, where we all practiced
catching them and throwing them to first or second. I almost caught one, but
when it hit my cheap, flat mitt it hurt so bad I had to drop it.
third day of practice. When we arrived, my stepmother asked who owned the VW
van with all the daisies and peace signs painted all over it. I explained to
her that it was Kurt’s.
was all she could say.
and greeted Kurt.
guys?" he asked.
Lloyd.
said Dawn, Kurt’s girlfriend, who was wearing daisies in her hair.
mumbled.
"why don’t you guys make your way onto the field and practice some,
and I’ll join you in a few minutes."
standing in the field and having no balls hit to me, on purpose, I made my way
to the Volkswagen van to see what was keeping Kurt. Turns out Daisy was. I looked
in the side door, and there was Kurt, kissing Dawn, with his hand surrounded
by a furry thing that he was grasping between Dawn’s legs.
yelled, shocking Kurt and Dawn.
her skirt, while Kurt gave me a strange look. "Do you know what we were
doing?" he asked me.
kissing.
Kurt. Then he pulled out a hand-rolled cigarette and asked me if I knew what
it was.
I said.
Kurt, then lit it, inhaled, and passed it to Dawn. They passed it back and forth,
inhaling it quite deeply.
day, Kurt told each of us to bring six dollars on Tuesday. He would be getting
us "Parkway Pirates" t-shirts, with our last names on the back of
them. We would wear them at our first game, which was two weeks away.
about this news, told our dad that night at the dinner table.
my dad screamed. "For a fucking t-shirt?"
it and everything," I said.
school, our shirts cost a nickel," my father explained. It seemed everything
cost a nickel back then.
said my dad. "I don’t work hard all day just to get ripped off. It’s
enough I pay for the food on this table."
sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them and hardly cooked liver.
said my stepmom, in a move that was surprisingly decent for her, "get them
the fucking shirts."
what to do?" asked my father.
she replied.
teeth, told her to shut up. Suddenly the dishes began flying and the name-calling
started. Then the chairs, table and fists came next.
the Tabb
residence.
and I showed up with six dollars. Between us. As it turns out, my father gave
in to my stepmother. Halfway. It was decided that Lloyd and I would share a
t-shirt, since we both bore the last name of Tabb. And since we both played
rightfield, we wouldn’t be playing at the same time.
the six bucks and he asked where the rest of the money was. We told him our
dad would only let us get one. He laughed nervously, and then told us things
will work out okay.
said, "Wow, your old man is sure a downer!"
the first game of the Parkway Pirates, and most kids’ parents are there
to watch. Of course, mine aren’t. Connie had dropped us off two hours early
because she was going shopping in the city with my stepsisters. My dad said
he couldn’t come see us play because he knew we’d be awful and he
didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the other parents.
we were in the field first.
says Kurt, "who wants to play rightfield first?" We had both chosen
rightfield because, as everyone knows, the fewest balls get hit thataway.
because I wanted to wear the purple Parkway Pirates t-shirt first. We had it
still sealed in the plastic bag that Kurt and Dawn had given it to us in about
an hour earlier.
it up," exclaimed my brother. "I want to play first!"
I yelled.
it," was Kurt’s answer; he threw a penny up in the air. I called "heads"
and lost. Lloyd got to wear the shirt first. He took off his Italian bread t-shirt.
I was jealous as Seth and I watched him run onto the field.
took off the shirt and gave it to me. We were at the end of the batting roster
and knew we wouldn’t be up this inning, so I took off my "Keep on
Truckin’" shirt and wore that purple flag of honor. Even though it
stunk of my brother’s sweat from the hot June sun, I felt proud.
inning didn’t go by as quickly as I thought. Our guys kept getting on base,
and suddenly Kurt yells that I’m on deck. The guy in front of me gets a
base hit and the next thing I know I’m up. Lloyd is called to deck.
from Norwalk, I hear the catcher utter things like, "Oh, you’re the
Jew, gonna strike out for us?" I ignore him and wait for the right pitch.
It happens three balls and two strikes later. I hit a line drive to short, which
the guy misses, and suddenly I find myself on first, having driven in one run.
first base, in my purple Parkway Pirates t-shirt, when I see my brother walking
toward home plate. In his Italian bread shirt. I start to get that sinking feeling.
tells me to take off my shirt and give it to my brother. I look at the crowd,
then Lloyd, who already has his shirt off and is standing near home plate, waiting.
I take off the shirt and hand it to Kurt.
it to Lloyd, who quickly puts it on, not only do all the kids on the Parkway
Pirates and the Norwalk team laugh, but the parents do as well. I hear some
kids say we must be the cheapest Jews ever.
shirt?" I ask Kurt, feeling silly standing on first base half-naked.
says Kurt. "It’s either a Parkway Pirates shirt or none at all."
As he walks away, I start to feel tears of embarrassment run down my cheek.
fag?" asks the first baseman.
to the kid.
to Lloyd.
whispers the first baseman to me as I try to take a little bit of a lead. "Your
parents too cheap to buy you your own shirt? It’s probably just that your
dad knows you’re a homo and has given up on you."
in the face with an uppercut as hard as I can. He bites his tongue and blood
starts pouring out of his mouth. Suddenly everyone is running in my direction
and they all tackle me. The next thing I know every fist and foot in Greenwich
is making contact with my body. I look up and see my own teammates kicking
the living shit out of me. I even see some parents standing around. Laughing.
and Lloyd manage to pull me free from the wild crowd. I’m red and bruised
all over, and my nose and mouth are bleeding. The umpire walks up to me, asks
if I’m okay, then tells me I’m out of the game.
fair, and he’s thrown out, too. So it turns out that Seth gets to wear
that Parkway Pirates shirt for the next eight innings.
of the summer spent with the Parkway Pirates, well, sucked. Kurt kept us out
of as many games as he could, at our request, so we didn’t have to be embarrassed
by having to change the shirt back and forth between us. Eventually my stepmom
made good on her promise and we found ourselves riding our bikes 22 miles three
times a week to and from practice. My dad never made it to one game, and when
I asked him for a new mitt because my cheap Japanese one hurt when a ball hit
it, he hit me.
Lloyd, Seth and I really grew to be good friends with Kurt and Dawn. They’d
let us sit in their painted VW van before and after practice and listen to music
they liked from names like Hendrix, Cream and Three Dog Night while they smoked
their hand-rolled cigarettes. Lloyd and I would always stare at Dawn’s
breasts, which she would flash us every once in a while.
Dawn made my brothers and me brownies that were really, really good. It’s
funny, but all I can remember about that day is laughing and laughing, and wishing
the summer I had hoped would end soon wouldn’t.
next summer rolled around, that prized Parkway Pirates t-shirt with T-A-B-B
in huge letters on the back was nothing more than a dust rag and towel to dry
off wet dogs. A tattered memory.
