MY MEMORIES

Charles Glenn Petersen

1946 - Terril Years

Sports

My mother didn't want me to go out for football and I don't remember going out for basketball my Freshman year. I still wanted to be a baseball pitcher and my father and I would play catch occasionally. He taught me how to throw a few different kinds of pitchers. So I went out for baseball my Freshman year. I practiced with the team but was never selected to suit up for a game. I did get to play in a few games during that following summer in Junior Legion baseball, I think as a shortstop, but I wasn't a very good hitter.

My mother taught me how to do the complete scoring of a baseball game, making all the proper marks on the sheet for: Pitches (balls, strikes, hit batters, wild pitchs, strike outs - called or swinging); Hits (single, double, triple, and home run); Outs (who made it, was it a fly ball or a ground out and who assisted, even special markings for a double play. Where she learned all of that, I don't know. I got so good at it that the coach made me the official scorer for our baseball team. I practiced listening to baseball games broadcast over the radio. I especially remember the broadcaster Mason Dixon (his radio name) from KICD out of Spencer, Iowa. He was actually recreating the game based on ticket tape he was receiving direct from the ballpark where the game was being played.