A death, Seg’s column
hits close to home
In the past week, I have had two things happen — one thing bad and one thing good, but as I see it, they’re sort of tied together.
In the 1970s and ’80s, I coached little league baseball. During that time, I had a good catcher by the name of Butch Hullinger. I remember Butch because first of all, he was one of the first guys there for practice or games. One of the first things a coach recognizes are those kids with the desire to play the game. Butch was one of those boys.
Butch passed away this week, may he rest in peace.
The article by Bob Seggerson on March 13th, relating to past and present, had me thinking about my passion for baseball. It rivals Bob’s passion for basketball. I remember the 1970’s and ’80s on Mondays and Wednesdays at Robb Avenue and seeing all the diamonds filled with little league teams from Kiwanis, Sertoma and other service leagues.
Today, I can drive by those same diamonds on those same nights and see nothing but grass growing and no baseball being played.
Back “in the good old days,” kids were growing up thinking they could be Major League ball players. Not so nowadays.
Thanks to Bob Seggerson for his excellent columns on basketball and I look forward to his returning next year.
— Norman Monfort, Lima
