Bravery is a complicated thing to describe. You can't say it's three feet long and two feet wide and that it weighs four hundred pounds or that it's colored bright blue or that it sounds like a piano or that it smells like roses. It's a quality, not a thing.

Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.

Today's Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they're out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.

At my best I was as good as anyone.

Of course, I didn't tell you about all the times I said I was going to hit one and it didn't happen.

You might as well go in and start getting dressed. I'm going to hit his first pitch for a home run.

I leaned on him for support when I got out of the cab, and he just crumpled to the ground. That's how we found out.