Norman Rockwell was a well-known painter and illustrator.
He was famous for the scenarios of everyday life, which appeared over four decades on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
Baseball inspired some of them including one labelled The Rookie.
I have a jigsaw puzzle of The Rookie, which is actually quite captivating.
Each year, college and professional baseball teams welcome rookies to their lineup.
Most of us can relate to the feelings of a rookie – who hasn’t been nervous and anxious the first day of a new job or on that initial date with someone you have just met.
There are rookies at the Grand Forks International (GFI) every tournament.
Many of them are not simply playing in Grand Forks for the first time, but particularly with college players, are actually making their debuts with a new team.
I thought it would be interesting to focus on a few 2011 GFI rookies, beginning with the fascinating story of Lee Harty. He will be arriving in Canada from Australia in a couple of weeks and this fall will be enrolled at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, where he will be studying business management and playing for the TRU WolfPack, who are part of the Canadian College Baseball Conference.
Harty will be wearing the uniform of the Kamloops Sun Devils as he makes his debut not only at the GFI but also in Canada.
“I am very excited to be heading over and playing in the Grand Forks tournament,” Lee said to me a few days ago.
He has been playing baseball Down Under since he was a nine-year-old and has played in a number of Australian National Championships at various levels.
In a July 22 article in the Geelong Advertiser headlined “Lee Harty has major potential,” Ryan Reynolds writes, “The Guild All-stars gun is ready to chance his arm with a move across the globe to Canada.”
Now there is a real hint of drama unfolding in this story, for Harty is from Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Indeed he played for the same Baycats squad that will be representing the Australian Baseball Federation at this year’s Grand Forks event.
The tourney schedule has Kamloops and the Baycats in different divisions, so they won’t meet in the round robin, however if both teams should qualify for the money round, Lee Harty will be facing his former team.
That would be a coincidence and truly a moment to remember.