Exciting Nights of Beer League Baseball

When my two siblings and I were growing up, Daddy worked shift work at Dow Chemical. All of us, especially Mama, looked forward to the evenings when Daddy worked days because after supper, Daddy and we young’uns would pile into Daddy’s “work car”—a used Ford Falcon—and head out somewhere so Mama could have a little quiet time. Of course, we jockeyed for shotgun, although as the oldest, I usually had first dibs on it. The Falcon had a three-speed transmission with the gear shift on the steering column. Daddy would let the kid riding shotgun shift while he worked the clutch. When I tired, or was gently encouraged, I let someone else take over shifting duties.

These after-dinner forays frequently started at the Brown’s Velvet Creamery on Plank Road. In these heady days of ice cream after supper, air conditioning was still a luxury, so we rode with the windows down and the warm breeze tickling our desire for ice cream. We each got a scoop. Predictably, I ordered my favorite flavor, chocolate-cherry-almond. Sadly for me, I never found that exact flavor combination in ice cream again. We could enjoy our ice cream in a leisurely fashion, soaking in the air conditioning of the Creamery.

After we finished our cool treats, we headed off into the warm evening to Howell Park to sit in on a beer-league baseball game. We did not know any of the players or other people there. However, it was a fun way to spend a little more time out of the house on a hot Baton Rouge summer night with Daddy. We had fun crawling over the bleachers and people-watching. Aliens could land on the baseball diamond and we would probably miss it.

However, one night, we actually witnessed a memorably clever play. A runner was on second. The batter hit a fly ball. The runner on second yelled, “I got it,” and everyone watched as the ball fell to the ground. Then, of course, the runner took off for third, leaving a red-faced and frantic second baseman and short stop.

These evenings of beer league baseball instilled in me a love of baseball that has extended throughout my life. Football, basketball, hockey, and other sports all have their fans. But if you want a companion for a baseball game, count me in.

A Taste of Childhood

When my younger sister, brother, and I were growing up in Baton Rouge, our daddy worked shift work in the caustic plant at Dow Chemical. Some evenings when he worked “days,” after supper he would take us kids out for a drive to give Mama some time to herself. Sometimes, we would go to the Brown’s Velvet Creamery for ice cream. There, I discovered my all-time favorite flavor, chocolate cherry almond. Yum!

After we ate our ice cream, we would stop by Howell Park if we saw the lights on for a beer league baseball game. We didn’t know anyone playing, but we enjoyed watching almost as much as the men enjoyed playing. One memorable play stuck in my memory. The batter hit a fly ball. The base runner on second yelled, “I got it!” As the second baseman watched the ball plonk to the ground, off ran the base runner for third.

In the decades that have passed, I have attended any number of baseball games at just about every level of play, from t-ball to college to Cubs games at Wrigley Field. I have witnessed innumerable spectacular plays, including a triple play at the Astrodome, but none has stuck in my mind like that clever play at Howell Park.

While I have enjoyed baseball over the decades, I have never found another brand of ice cream that offered the flavor combination of chocolate cherry almond that so soothed my soul although I have long longed for such a find. I have found chocolate cherry or cherry almond or chocolate almond or whatever, but never chocolate cherry almond.

Recently, I found an oasis of taste bud nostalgia in the form of a Ghiradelli flavor, cherry tango chocolate with crushed almonds. Ecstatic at my find, I bought two bags which I brought back to Home Base!  Sadly, the Baseball World Series was over at the time of my find.  However, I have been content to savor the candy after supper, anticipate the college baseball season which will open soon, and giggle again at the memory of that cunning play at Howell Park!