Three Helmets and a Duffel Bag - Little League in the South

There is no experience more uniquely Southern than Little League Baseball in small-town Alabama. Everywhere else in the country, it's a program. Down here, it's a situation. This week, Matt, Drake, Joey, and Eric are taking it back to the dusty infields, the borrowed helmets, and the army-green duffel bags of Dizzy Dean and Dixie Youth baseball. We're talking about the equipment that barely worked, the jerseys with vinyl numbers that would sooner take the shirt with them than peel off, and the bats so worn out nobody could tell you what brand they were. We're talking about fields that were technically pastures, dugouts that were technically a bench and a fence, and coaches who were technically just dads that didn't work Saturdays. We're also talking about the real reason any of us showed up....the concession stand. Slush puppies. Nachos. Hot dogs steamed in tinfoil. Sour Punch straws that were basically cocaine for children. And at least one kid on every team who had already given up on playing and was just eating his way through the fifth inning. If you grew up playing ball in the South, this one's going to hit like a cold aluminum bat on an April night. You'll know exactly what that means.