Andrew Daniel’s Ray Kinsella moment came from his son rather than his father.
Eleven years ago, the Marion resident’s son Jackson arrived home from Kindergarten with a flier for youth baseball.
“He wanted to sign up. My youth baseball in the league didn’t end well, I didn’t enjoy it. I actually hated the game at the end,” recalls Daniel, fighting off emotional moments after throwing out the ceremonial “first ball” for Opening Day of Old Rochester Youth Baseball on Saturday morning at Gifford Park.
Daniel was publicly recognized for his 11 years of volunteerism and had just thrown the“first ball” to ORRYB President Mike Duarte when he recalled that baseball hadn’t always brought him the joy it has for the past decade.
As a child, baseball in his mind was anything but a field of dreams, more of a stitch in the gut, a bitter loss lacking resolution.
“Not a good relationship with the head coach. It just put a nasty taste in my mouth for the rest of my life, and (when Jackson asked) I was like, ‘no, anything but baseball,’” recalled Daniel. “I was struggling between bringing up bad feelings or letting my kid down. And I remember not being able to sleep that night. … I didn’t want to let him down.”
After all those years, what he thought had faded from memory was suddenly raw all over again.
“I’m not overly religious, but I needed help with that one,” said Daniel, who prayed. “It wasn’t like it’s the most important decision in the world, but … it was just a tough thing for me. I said, ‘I need a sign.’”
The next day, Daniel got into his white van that he typically parked at the police station, and on his way to work, he spotted something in the middle of Route 105 near the S-shaped curved in the road. Resting on the yellow divider lines: a men’s size, black, Easton-brand baseball mitt.
Having pulled over to confirm what his discovery was, Daniel brought the glove to the police station and told them in case anyone reports it missing.
“If not, I’m going to keep it for the time being, and I still have it today,” said Daniel, who since that day has brought it to the fields as a coach in T-Ball, farm league, minors and majors, having guided minor and major league teams to championship finals.
For five years, he spent seven days a week on youth baseball, working on field maintenance when there wasn’t a game or a practice.
“I always tell the parents, ‘I’m not a professional hitting coach, but I spent an extraordinary amount of money on them for my kid, and I paid really good attention,’” said Daniel, who studied the teaching videos and is trying to save baseball parents some of that money by being a sponge for baseball instruction and paying it all forward.
Freshly retired from his roles in ORRYB, Daniel stills breathes baseball. He now coaches his daughter in softball and is helping coach Babe Ruth League and travel baseball. His son is a freshman playing in the ORR High School program.
Sharing a laugh with his ORRYB maintenance successor Jim Perry, who of course didn’t realize what he was getting himself into when he volunteered his own time, Daniel hasn’t retired as much as he has redirected his revived passion for America’s pastime. All because someone left a baseball glove on his pathway to work.
His ORRYB teams never won the championship. The prize was his opportunity to make baseball a positive experience for all those children. But like Shoeless Joe Jackson tells Kinsella at the end of Field of Dreams, Daniel knows it was he who needed that mitt the most and the second chance that came with it.
“It’s the craziest thing,” he said, “and it’s the biggest blessing.”
ORR Youth Baseball Opening Day
By Mick Colageo