A Grip on Sports: High school sports may end for everyone but the memories never graduate

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s high school graduation season. Four years done in, seemingly, a flash. Which got us thinking about high school athletes and how much they will remember from that squirrel-quick burst.

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• We can’t speak for everyone. No one, basically, but ourselves. So, we searched our memory banks from 50 years ago to see what stood out. Funny, it wasn’t the wins and losses as much as the ups and downs – some of which came on the same play.

Our first competitive high school memory actually comes from eighth grade. Our dad took us to a Pasadena High baseball game. He wanted to see how a player he coached and how he was used. John Grijalva was a neighbor and, in about a year, a 12th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was also Pasadena High’s cleanup hitter.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning. No one out. John steps up to the plate. Did we mention he would be drafted in about 13 months? And the Pasadena High coach called for a squeeze bunt. Predictably, it failed, turned into a double play and changed our high school plans.

Dad got up, grabbed our arm and said “you aren’t going here.” We left.

See, picking a high school for sports is nothing new.

We ended up at St. Francis, the Catholic school across town. Freshman year. Early in the season. A ball crashes into our skull. We feel fine, until we put our hand to our left eye. When we pull it away it is full of blood.

Towel goes on, dad, who is there to watch, piles us into our Mercury and we head to the family doctor. No X-rays. Stitches. A bandage around the head. Doc Burlison even tells the old man we could go back and play if we want.

To this day, the top of our left eye socket isn’t even. It’s connected, sure. Over the years the hole in our head healed. But it was broken. There was a gap for years.

Later that season we won the junior varsity league championship. The last out in the last game with the title on the line was a ground ball to second base. Where we played. We didn’t boot it, though the memory that remains is how scared we were we would.

We never won another title. But we do remember such things as getting knocked unconscious at home plate by a La Canada High player.

By then we were playing our college position, catcher. The LC player had driven a ball over our rightfielder’s head. There were no fences. As the first baseman/defensive lineman rumbled around the bases, the ball slowly worked its way back to the infield. Too slowly. The big guy wanted a home run. The relay throw was high and we had to jump to get it. Instead of sliding, and being safe for sure, he decided to run through us as we were off the ground. Predictably, we landed on our head.

After that, we don’t remember. We do know we caught the rest of the game. And, we were told, had two hits. There really wasn’t a backup catcher.

Speaking of not having a backup, our junior year we were winning a game by at least a dozen runs. Our coach decided it was time to let a bench warmer – let’s call him Kevin, because that was his name – play. He was, nominally, our backup catcher.

For the first time that year, we weren’t going to play in the field. Kevin was going to catch. Only problem: He forgot his cup. We lent him ours. Gross, huh?

Anyhow, first batter walks. Takes off for second. Kevin throws the ball into centerfield. Runner heads for third. The centerfielder’s throw bounces away from our third baseman. Runner heads for home. The throw arrives early. Runner decides Kevin is in the way. Runs him over. Kevin drops the ball. The runner is safe.

But Kevin is out for the count. Tells our coach he can’t continue. Guess who has to re-enter? Yep. But Kevin is wearing our protective cup. We need it back.

The moral of the story is never, ever, under no circumstances, no matter what, lend such an item to a teammate. Getting it back is sure to be an adventure.

And, guess what? Thanks to that Salesian High player, our best memory of that season is we caught every out.

Yep, high school memories. Always the best.

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WSU: When another multimillion-dollar deficit comes a calling, so do the questions. From the Regents. Such was the case yesterday for Washington State athletic director Pat Chun and president Kirk Schulz. How they answered the pointed questions, covered here in detail by Kip Hill, was of interest not only to Cougar fans but throughout the Pac-12 footprint as well. … We had our thoughts on WSU’s systemic athletic budget issues a week ago. They still stand. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, as we said, Schulz’s statements, especially, drew attention nationally and around the region. … Washington also has issues with their athletic budget. And they will get worse as the debt payments for the football stadium grow. … Jon Wilner has his weekly mailbag in the Mercury News and passes along a look at football recruiting. … Oregon began its home baseball Super Regional by falling behind by eight runs. After three innings. About three hours later the Ducks were running around the bases celebrating. They had rallied for an improbable 9-8 victory in 10 innings. … Stanford begins its Super Regional against Texas today. … Isaac Wilson’s brother Zach took the BYU route. But the younger quarterback is headed to Utah. … Guess what? Deion Sanders is happy how his Colorado roster is coming together. Think a football coach would say he hates his new players? … The Buffs’ biggest basketball transfer is settling in. … Arizona and Purdue are about to announce a two-game basketball series. … In track, Washington’s men went 1-2 in the NCAA 1,500.

EWU: The Eagles have settled on a new athletic director. Tim Collins is at Fresno State currently, will start at Eastern on July 15 and has some background in the area, having coached at Lewis-Clark State in the past. Dan Thompson has a lot more in this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Colorado had some new contracts to announce.

Indians: The bullpen came up big, the offense rallied and Spokane earned a 6-3, 10-inning victory at Hillsboro.

Sounders: Seattle’s first trip to Charlotte is an important one.

Mariners: That big series in Anaheim? It did not start well (in more than one way). The Angels rallied against Luis Castillo and won 5-4. As for those of us at home, watching on AppleTV+, well, it wasn’t perfect. Maybe it’s our expensive Comcast Interweb connection but we sat through quite a few pauses while the circle showed up. By the time we gave up after Mickey Moniak’s game-deciding sixth-inning home run, we must have been an out behind the action. … The new schedule means division rivals will disappear for a while. … Questions? Here are some answers.

Storm: Seattle has put some great teams on the floor at Key and Climate Pledge arenas. The one constant? Sue Bird. She was the ultimate point guard and ultimate competitor. Her number will be retired Sunday. … She was in town Friday and probably witnessed the 73-66 loss to visiting Washington, which will also be the opponent tomorrow.

Kraken: Las Vegas is probably the better team in the Stanley Cup finals. The Knights just need to keep doing what they have been doing.

NBA: Denver finished off a sweep of the two games in Miami, 108-95 and now lead the series 3-1.

Horse racing: The Belmont is this afternoon. No Triple Crown on the line. Not as much interest.

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• Doing some fact-checking this morning, we discovered something we probably knew years ago – and forgot. When dad’s favorite player, John Grijalva, was drafted by the Cardinals in 1971, another of his teammates went seven rounds later. Don Redoglia was also picked by St. Louis. Funny thing. Both were taken before another Cardinal pick that year, a guy named Keith Hernandez. He went in the 42nd round. Until later …