Once upon a time about 5 years & 2 months ago this man was riding down the street on this moped when he saw this little boy throw rocks at the train tracks. The man went to talk to the little boy but the little boy wouldn’t talk to him.  The man asked his friend who he new, how come the little boy wouldn’t talk to him.  His friend replied that he doesn’t talk to strangers.

So the man left.  About a week or so later the man was riding his moped and saw the little boy but this time with his mother.  The man asked his mother why wouldn’t the little boy talk to him.  His mother replied; “He doesn’t talk to strangers.”  Then the man said, “Please introduce me to your son so I am not a stranger.”  The mother asked how come?  The man said I want to teach your son how to play baseball.  The boy’s mother said why.  So the man told her he saw her son throwing rocks a week or two ago and he’s never seen a little boy throw rocks that far, and the man said to himself; he has good baseball potentially.  The man then invited her son to his batting cage a few blocks away.  So the boy’s mother said I would bring him the next time I have free time.  The next day the boy and his mother learned how to hit.

After the first few days of the boy’s mother bringing him down to hit she said to the man ”From now on when you want him, come get him.  So for the next two weeks the man picked up the boy, at his house and taught him how to hit off a teeand soft toss.

They practiced each time on two things, swinging down on the ball and turning the hips.  After two weeks the boy learned how to hit live pitch for the first time in his life at 30mph.  It was his first attempt at hitting a pitch ball.  He did great.  He hit half the balls, which is excellent for a six-year-old child.  In the first few days after hitting a ball at 30mph, a photographer from the Palm Beach Post asked them what they were doing.  The man said I showing this child how to hit.  So the photographer said he would like to take a picture of the boy hitting off the tee.  So the man said, ok.  Then the photographer took the picture and said it would be in the paper in a few days.

The boy practiced for the next two months; and by the end of the year he was able to hit a ball 60mph not perfectly, but better than most 12-year-old boys. Two months after the boy learned how to hit a 60mph ball the boy joined a minor league team with 9 and 10 year olds, and the boy didn’t turn seven yet.

For his age he was a great hitter.  He was fast and had a super arm and still didn’t know how to catch. So the coach put him in right field for most of the season.  By the end of the season the boy was a good fielder and played second base and was good as any 9 or 10 year old.

The boy loved baseball so much that he joined the man’s 11-12 year old all star baseball team for the summer.  The boy played a little second base and outfield and one day the boy even threw out a runner going home from the outfield.  He even got a couple of hits and a walk during the game.  He went on to get 6 hits and 19 walks during that season including his first hit off a 60mph throw by a 12 year old.

He was very happy with himself.  Especially when the man’s team went undefeated and won the championship of the league.

 

Author: Rusty Sams
Illustrated: Rusty Sams
Editor: Phil Ringer
Copyright: December 4, 1994

 

Dedicated to my Mentor Best Friend
and Pal:  Phil Ringer

 

The man in the story is Phil Ringer.  He has a vast amount of experience in baseball and a great deal of patience when teaching. He is admired and remembered for years by all of his baseball students, some of whom have achieved their goal and have become professional players.

When as young boy, Phil attended many baseball games and knew practically all players and positions.  As he grew older, he went to baseball camps where many pro’s taught him the correct way to play baseball.

Phil is a member of the National Youth Sports Coaches Association.

When Phil (the man in the story) met Rusty (the boy in the story), Rusty was so very shy and bashful.  He would hide his face when someone spoke to him.. Today with Phil’s teaching, Rusty has much confidence and manages to make many friends due to his great skill in baseball.

Phil loves baseball very much and tries his utmost to help and teach others the things he learned in baseball from all the professional players he met over the years.

dictated by Rose Ringer April 12, 1995