Sports
Gimme 5: Providence Home Run Baseballs Finally Speak
Sam Travis killed the baseball last spring for Providence Catholic. Ever wonder about the feelings of those poor baseballs?
Coaches and teammates had nothing but good things to say about Sam Travis after he helped Providence Catholic to a 37-4 record and into the Class 4A state title game in June.
Travis hit .504, clobbered 17 home runs, smacked 17 baseballs over home run fences and drove in 75 runs. Major League Baseball noticed his performance as well. The Cincinnati Reds selected the Indiana University recruit in the 40th round of the draft.
While Providence coach Mark Smith was ecstatic with what Travis was able to do for the Celtics, some of the baseballs were less than pleased with how Travis treated them.
"If I had to put his season in one word, I'd say 'phenomenal,’ ” Providence's Smith said. “It's unbelievable what he has done and what he's meant to the team and the program since he came to Providence.”
"I lost five teeth, broke my nose and couldn't open my right eye for over a week," one of the home run balls, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "Life as a baseball isn't as fun as it might seem."
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We decided to try to track down some more of those home run baseballs. It wasn't easy and that's why it's taken us until August to find five of them and publish this special edition of Gimme 5.
One baseball was found in northern California. After landing beyond the left field fence at Tom Dedin Field in New Lenox, he decided to start anew. Apparently he had read Kerouac's "On The Road" a few too many times.
Another was in the Witness Protection program in Canada. Oops, wait, it wasn't Canada, but some other country much farther away than the United States.
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Another had joined the circus and is now enjoying a career in a clown's juggling act. Yet another had just been released from an institution after receiving intensive shock-therapy to rewire its brain. Sadly, the poor little round guy kept having nightmares about getting hit 400 feet by Sam Travis.
The final one is trying to make it on reality TV. He thinks he's going to be on Survivor. Who is he kidding? He couldn't even survive a high school baseball game without getting killed by Sam Travis' lethal bat.
