As a player at any level what was the highlight of your playing career | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

As a player at any level what was the highlight of your playing career

In little league I was on third base when a teammate popped up to the second baseman who was positioned in his normal spot on the infield dirt.

I tagged up and scored.
 
NineOneSeven said:
And then you woke up
Expand...
Thanks. I didn't think it was all that special but if you think I had to dream it up, maybe it was. I also played an entire football game against a future pro football player. His name...no kidding Greg Robinson. No not that one. this kid was 6'6 250 and played tight end. He beat the tar out of me. Even hit me after the whistle.
 
I had 2 highlights of my hoop playing career...#1 as a freshman reserve one game my coach was so mad at the starters for not taking open shots he yelled, nice and loud in a HS gym with like 100 people in it "If you don't start shooting the damn ball I'll put "cuseincincy" in, he'll shoot the damn thing!" Yes, I was never shy to shoot the ball...when open!

#2 was my senior year, in gym class I rolled my ankle playing volleyball., in my game that day I was on fire, 15 points, 10 assists. Woke up the next day my rolled ankle was really a broken metatarsal swollen to the size of a softball and I spent the rest of the season in a cast.
 
Played two years of varsity basketball - the first two seasons that the 3-pt FG was introduced - which likely means that I graduated as my High School's 2nd or 3rd all-time leader in 3-pt FG makes. But that's not my highlight.

First game of the season my senior year, we played a rival HS at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, immediately following the conclusion of a Nets-Hornets game. (The Nets won in OT.) Our game went into double-OT, and with 7 seconds to play a kid on the other team knocked down a corner 3 to put them up by one. We called timeout and set up an inbounds press-breaker (assuming they would pick us up full court), but they let us inbound and advance the ball with no pressure. Our point guard raced up the court and executed a smooth dribble hand-off to yours truly, I took two dribbles to my left, rose up, and knocked down a 16-ft jumper as time expired.

(If my recollection seems vivid, it's probably because I only watched the tape of that game a couple hundred times.)

By the way, we finished 6-14 on the season.
 
One night I was on fire and scored 49. The buzzer went off with a minute left in halftime so I couldn't get another shot up to break 50. That was the most efficient pre-game and halftime I ever had!
 
Don said:
This is just a fun topic just meant for a little board levity if you will. I'm going to show my age on this one as well as my tremendous leaping ability. In my high school days we didn't have 3 point and dunking was not allowed not even in warm ups before the game. We were playing a team from Candor NY and they had this guy who came in and in warm ups you didn't dunk but you ran out and jumped as high as you could near the rim. A guy they had could jump and put his elbow above the rim . He was about 6' 6 . It was amazing to see someone jump like that.

Well any way during the game which we did not win and he scored like 35 points he got a pass in the lane as I was playing guard . He turned to shoot but with my cat quick reflexes and amazing jumping ability I gave him a Rosie reject those who are old and listened to Syracuse games know what I'm talking about. I totally stuffed him from behind lol. I was so proud of myself lol. Well as to basketball careers he had a slightly higher ceiling than me . I played at townball after high school. He signed a scholarship offer at Syracuse . His name was Cliff Warwell .

What is your claim to fame or best basketball moment ?
Expand...

Scored 14 points in FM JV win against JD - February, 1975.
 
Long story, so, people that hate my long posts - skip it! Don't complain, just skip it!! Please.

I was a Junior in high school. My HS was really good at baseball, but that year we only had a couple REALLY good pitchers, and a lot of pedestrian ones. We played in a tournament in South Carolina, and we were facing off against a team featuring a future #1 draft pick. Needless to say, it was very exciting, as everyone knew the kid was incredibly good, and the team was ranked in some national poll (USA Today). We were good enough to fare pretty well when our #1 and #2 guys pitched, but this game we were pretty much conceding as the plan was to go for broke against every other team and just take the L in this one.

Regardless, I was excited to square off against the kid, and figured this was my chance to hit a HR and launch myself into the MLB draft, where I would get drafted, make millions in MLB, develop an amazing cocaine habit, marry Staci Keanan from Step by Step, and eventually buy a house with a basketball court in the basement.

So, I stepped to the plate in the second inning, with all my hopes and dreams staring back at me. No more would I be begging my friend's older siblings for coke, I would be getting high on my very own supply! I promptly struck out on three pitches with the last one being a breaking ball that I think may have bounced 3 feet in front of the plate. Anyway, that's not my story, but it did suck - and my dreams died in that moment.

Anyway, they pulled the kid after 3 innings, and by then they were beating us like 10-0. Since we were conceding the game and didn't want to use any more pitchers, they turned to me! I had one career Varsity inning pitched, and it was a 3 up, 3 down turn the year before....against a normal HS team.

I don't recall the terror exactly as it happened, but it went something like this:

First batter up, white kid, double off the wall. Not a bad start.
Second batter, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Not great.
Third batter, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Not great.
Fourth batter, white kid, double or triple. I know mostly it was doubles and triples being hit because I didn't give up a single HR.

Although the trend may be noticeable to some of the more astute members of the forum, at this point I had not noticed anything out of sorts.

Fifth batter up, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Huh. Something seems odd. Just can't quite put my finger on what it is...yet.
Sixth batter up, white kid, double.
Seventh batter up, white kid, triple. Okay, things are going well again. I'm not hitting anyone!
Eighth batter up, black kid, hit him with the pitch.

Ooooooh, now I'm noticing something. There seems to be something very similar about all the kids I'm hitting...but...just...what......is...it?

So, at this point, being honest, it's really kind of dawned on me what's happening.

Anyway, the reason I didn't pitch much is because I threw pretty slow. I did however throw a fantastic 12/6 curveball. However, it was perhaps thrown slower than anyone has ever pulled off while having the ball make it all the way to home plate on the fly. I topped out on a good day with a fastball that was maybe around 75ish or a tad over. My curveball likely hit about 12 MPH on a good day. That may have been my only saving grace on this very sad day (as a few were being hit by curveballs, and likely couldn't tell they were being hit at all).

Ninth batter up, white kid, double! Nice!

Somewhere, perhaps at this point, I look at my coach and shrug in the most hapless, "help me" type way I could muster. I may have even made a sad face - like the kind you would do with an emoji today by text, but I did it from the mound - in real life.

My Coach, being a bit insane, and a bit violent, was never one to take things like this well. So, he does what he does, and just started screaming, "you're all we got, Ghost. You're all we got," in the angriest voice he could muster. And that man could muster some serious anger. He would scream that many, many, many, more times that day. I think it was how he was coping with my ineptitude without physically attacking me.

Significantly, what he said was not true. We had others. We most certainly did. I was NOT "all we got."

So, at this point, we restart with another white kid. At some point I got someone out, either this kid, or maybe the white kid before - who knows, but I'll insert it here. He popped out to 3rd base.

Next kid up. Black kid. I hit him. At this point I figure I'm about to start a race war in South Carolina, which is rather sad, because at that time I would most certainly have claimed to be the blackest white kid I knew, and likely remained that way for another few years. Then I met this kid Mikey, in college, and then some of his friends, and I realized I wasn't even close to what I thought I was.

However, there was no way to explain this to anyone. Not my fans. Not the opposing fans. Not the victims of my racist attack. I just had no way to explain that I grew up loving rap, I watched Boyz-n-Hood 178 times, I had BLACK FRIENDS (all three of them that were in my grade), and spent most of youth screaming "Domino, m*********ers," every time I won at anything, even though I had never played a game of dominoes in my life. :(

Well, I had hit the kid, and he picked up the ball, laughed, smiled at me, and tossed it back. Perhaps it was because it was an 18 MPH curveball and he found it amusing. At the moment though, there seemed to be some genuine, "I feel sooooooo bad for you" kindness in his smile, that I'll never be able to express my gratitude for the kindness he showed - as he would have been well within his rights to strike me with a baseball bat. Repeatedly.

I'll never know if that kid thought I was a racist or not, but in that moment, whatever was happening stopped, and no more black kids were hit that day. At least by me.

I still have no idea how in the world it went down like that.....and I gave up 38 more runs that inning, but I felt okay about it. There was no race war. We shook hands and other than some laughing and smiles while saying "good game," it was all quiet. I never heard the end of it from my own team...but that was to be expected.

Oddly, I went like 12-15 from the plate in that tournament, and was otherwise flawless, and did NOT make the all-tournament team. Which I can only assume was because nobody wanted to vote for the racist. :(

Lesson: Don't do anything that looks an awful lot like you're insanely racist - it may cost you a trophy. :(

I have a ton of sports stories, but I'll stop, as that was stupidly long. My apologies.
 
Last edited:
Ghost said:
Long story, so, people that hate my long posts - skip it! Don't complain, just skip it!! Please.

I was a Junior in high school. My HS was really good at baseball, but that year we only had a couple REALLY good pitchers, and a lot of pedestrian ones. We played in a tournament in South Carolina, and we were facing off against a team featuring a future #1 draft pick. Needless to say, it was very exciting, as everyone knew the kid was incredibly good, and the team was ranked in some national poll (USA Today). We were good enough to fare pretty well when our #1 and #2 guys pitched, but this game we were pretty much conceding as the plan was to go for broke against every other team and just take the L in this one.

Regardless, I was excited to square off against the kid, and figured this was my chance to hit a HR and launch myself into the MLB draft, where I would get drafted, make millions in MLB, develop an amazing cocaine habit, marry Staci Keanan from Step by Step, and eventually buy a house with a basketball court in the basement.

So, I stepped to the plate in the second inning, with all my hopes and dreams staring back at me. No more would I be begging my friend's older siblings for coke, I would be getting high on my very own supply! I promptly stuck out on three pitches with the last one being a breaking ball that I think may have bounced 3 feet in front of the plate. Anyway, that's not my story, but it did suck - and my dreams died in that moment.

Anyway, they pulled the kid after 3 innings, and by then they were beating us like 10-0. Since we were conceding the game and didn't want to use any more pitchers, they turned to me! I had one career Varsity inning pitched, and it was a 3 up, 3 down turn the year before...against a normal HS team.

I don't recall the terror exactly as it happened, but it went something like this:

First batter up, white kid, double off the wall. Not a bad start.
Second batter, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Not great.
Third batter, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Not great.
Fourth batter, white kid, double or triple. I know mostly it was doubles and triples being hit because I didn't give up a single HR.

Although the trend may be noticeable to some of the more astute members of the forum, at this point I had not noticed anything out of sorts.

Fifth batter up, black kid, hit him with the pitch. Huh. Something seems odd. Just can't quite put my finger on what it is...yet.
Sixth batter up, white kid, double.
Seventh batter up, white kid, triple. Okay, things are going well again. I'm not hitting anyone!
Eighth batter up, black kid, hit him with the pitch.

Ooooooh, now I'm noticing something. There seems to be something very similar about all the kids I'm hitting...but...just...what...is...it?

So, at this point, being honest, it's really kind of dawned on me what's happening.

Anyway, the reason I didn't pitch much is because I threw pretty slow. I did however throw a fantastic 12/6 curveball. However, it was perhaps thrown slower than anyone has ever pulled off while having the ball make it all the way to home plate on the fly. I topped out on a good day with a fastball that was maybe around 75ish or a tad over. My curveball likely hit about 12 MPH on a good day. That may have been my only saving grace on this very sad day (as a few were being hit by curveballs, and likely couldn't tell they were being hit at all).

Ninth batter up, white kid, double! Nice!

Somewhere, perhaps at this point, I look at my coach and shrug in the most hapless, "help me" type way I could muster. I may have even made a sad face - like the kind you would do with an emoji today by text, but I did from the mound, but in real life.

My Coach, being a bit insane, and a bit violent, was never one to take things like this well. So, he does what he does, and just started screaming, "you're all we got, Ghost. You're all we got," in the angriest voice he could muster. And that man could muster some serious anger. He would scream that many, many, many, more times that day. I think it was how he was coping with my ineptitude without physically attacking me.

Significantly, what he said was not true. We had others. We most certainly did. I was NOT "all we got."

So, at this point, we restart with another white kid. At some point I got some out out, either this kid, or maybe the white kid before - who knows, but I'll insert it here. He popped out to 3rd base.

Next kid up. Black kid. I hit him. At this point I figure I'm about to start a race war in South Carolina, which is rather sad, because at that time I would most certainly have claimed to be the blackest white kid I knew, and likely remained that way for another few years. Then I met this kid Mikey, in college, and then some of his friends, and I realized I wasn't even close to what I thought I was.

However, there was no way to explain this to anyone. Not my fans. Not the opposing fans. Not the victims of my racist attack. I just had no way to explain that I grew up loving rap, I watched Boyz-n-Hood 178 times, I had BLACK FRIENDS (all three of them that were in my grade), and spent most of youth screaming "Domino, m*********ers," even though I had never played a game of dominoes in my life. :(

Well, I had hit the kid, and he picked up the ball, laughed, smiled at me, and tossed it back. Perhaps it was because it was an 18 MPH curveball and he found it amusing. At the moment though, there seemed to be some genuine, "I feel sooooooo bad for you" kindness in his smile, that I'll never be able to express my gratitude for the kindness he showed - as he would have been well within his rights to strike me with a baseball bat. Repeatedly.

I'll never know if that kid thought I was a racist or not, but in that moment, whatever was happening stopped, and no more black kids were hit that day. At least by me.

I still have no idea how in the world it went down like that...and I gave up 38 more runs that inning, but I felt okay about it. There was no race war. We shook hands and other than some laughing and smiles while saying "good game," it was all quiet. I never heard the end of it from my own team...but that was to be expected.

Oddly, I went like 12-15 from the plate in that tournament, and was otherwise flawless, and did NOT make the all-tournament team. Which I can only assume was because nobody wanted to vote for the racist. :(

Lesson: Don't do anything that looks an awful lot like you're insanely racist - it may cost you a trophy. :(

I have a ton of sports stories, but I'll stop, as that was stupidly long. My apologies.
Expand...
That...that right there. Was awesome.
 
I had a game high 17 points 10+ assists bunch of steals (didn’t count the steals) as the counselors of the junior campers beat the counselors of the senior counselors for the first time ever. You guessed it. At the Y!

Also made Queens college summer baseball camp all stars and proud as heck to back up a triple A player at center field on my corporate softball team a few years ago. Still have a few years jerseys and the caps!

I cling to these “war stories” :)
 
A SPORTS HIGHLIGHT:
Went to small Class D HS -many years ago.
Senior year, a buddy and I decided to play on the golf team for fun.
If you could swing a club you were in, and that's how we made the team.
Coach drove us to the links in the school station wagon, and the two seniors sat in the front seat.
A switch on the dash operated two big red flashing lights on the "SCHOOL BUS" bar on the roof.
As we cruised down the highway one day, I used my stealth powers to flip the switch on, unnoticed.
Coach drove on several miles, dumbfounded: "Why the hell do all the cars in front of us keep pulling over?!"
Glad he had a sense of humor!
 
cuseincincy said:
I had 2 highlights of my hoop playing career...#1 as a freshman reserve one game my coach was so mad at the starters for not taking open shots he yelled, nice and loud in a HS gym with like 100 people in it "If you don't start shooting the damn ball I'll put "cuseincincy" in, he'll shoot the damn thing!" Yes, I was never shy to shoot the ball...when open!

#2 was my senior year, in gym class I rolled my ankle playing volleyball., in my game that day I was on fire, 15 points, 10 assists. Woke up the next day my rolled ankle was really a broken metatarsal swollen to the size of a softball and I spent the rest of the season in a cast.
Expand...
Where in Cincinnati? I’m in Mason
 
I injured myself by racing out my front door wearing hard plastic racing flats for a Nordic ski race. I bounced down my snow covered staircase on my back.

I won a city championship coaching a co-ed softball team I put together featuring an entire roster made up of serious body builders. Opposing teams simply lined up against the outfield fence.
 
Baseball: Pitching complete games in consecutive starts 5 days apart (1 hitter and 3 hitter against #4 and #2 teams in NYS, class AA).

Basketball: (Not in a game, but on a 10' high school gym hoop) I could stand at the FT line with my back to the basket, bounce the ball between my legs off the ground and off the backboard, turn around and take two quick steps and jump and catch the ball off the backboard and dunk two handed. I saw David Lee do it in a slam dunk contest and did it during practice after that.
 
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