
My nephew, Josh Gonzaga, plays college baseball for the East Tennessee Buccaners. Today they had a doubleheader against North Florida in Jacksonville. Since Josh was starting pitcher in the second game, the family decided to drive up. When I say family, I mean family. In attendance were Josh’s mom, dad and brother Justin, my nephew Joey and his wife, my wife, my son Mike and his girlfriend Erin, and Grandma Peggy.
Now the one thing you have to know about Grandma Peggy is that she has little interest in sports and knows even less about them. You could tell her that the pitcher just threw for three touchdowns and she’d not question it. You could say that the batter just earned a TKO and she’d believe you. Grandma Peggy was just there because Josh was playing and she loves being with her family.
As the game got underway there were the normal cheers. “Go Bucs!” “Give him your best pitch!” “Great pitch, Josh!” “Battle back, kid!” “Come on blue, get in the game!” There were also a few new [at least to me] cheers: “Hey Blue, I thought only cows slept standing up!” “Hey Blue, don’t be chicken to call a foul (fowl)!” As the game tightened up and got down to the middle innings it seemed that everyone in the family was cheering something. And that’s when Grandma Peggy yelled:
“That batter swings like a pole dancer!”
Everyone in the family suddenly got quiet and all eyes went to Grandma Peggy who was proudly smiling. “Uh, mom, what does that mean?” I asked. “I don’t know, I just thought it sounded right” came her response. We all busted out laughing. For the rest of the game, every so often, you’d hear someone yell, “That batter swings like a pole dancer!”
So if you’re ever at a baseball game and you hear that cheer… remember you read it here first at the ZONE! [Take THAT, Joey!]