Local Perspective: Back In The Day

“Back in the day”…how many times have you said it? How many times have you heard it? It’s a term used when someone reflects to a time when they did something or once felt a certain way. Back in the day, when people respected the lives of one another and genuinely cared how their neighbors felt and how we could make each other’s lives better.

I’m reflecting because “back in the day” in Mt. Juliet there were so many people that were influential in making lives better, using the resources available to build a ballpark or simply to take time to help someone in need.

As Mt. Juliet has grown we feel like we’ve lost the opportunity to be a “small town” but the simple truth is we’ve gained more opportunity to create that “back in the day” event for more people.

The Mt. Juliet Little League was built by a group of men, and women, that felt Mt. Juliet needed a place for the kids to play ball. Of all the wonderful people who participated in the construction, the one I remember most was Harold Sutton. A very simple man who worked at a local factory, he put his name on the line to help build what has since turned into one of Mt. Juliet’s shining stars.

I remember growing up at the ballpark, when times were enjoyable and simple. My Dad was the coach for the Giants when our team had no sponsors, the field had no fences, and we wore jeans or blue jean shorts to play in. We would take time to mow the grass either before or after the games so we didn’t have the expense of a maintenance or a groundskeeper. Our Moms would work in the concession stand and the money would go back to the park.

If you hit a ball in Cedar Creek it was a badge of honor, and yes, we would most often wade in and get the ball, it was our trophy.
As the ballpark grew, we had fences around the fields, we got to wear real uniforms, our coaches were our heroes, not because they were wealthy or had “big” positions in the world, but because they cared enough to teach us and be our friends.

Many years later, after having played ball for so many years, I began to coach at the ballpark. I coached for several years without having a child at the park and then when my oldest son, Brandon, was old enough I coached him in both little league and later tournament ball.

Traveling all over the state, playing other communities, I always enjoyed the passion that every community showed as they went about the games and the Moms and Dads yelling from the stands for their kids but I always looked forward to my ball park, where I had grown up, the friends I made with so many of those guys coaching with me. I was proud, I’m still proud.

I was determined to be one of those people that worked to help those kids and give the boys and girls a minute in their lives they could tell their kids, “back in the day”.

Mt. Juliet League Baseball and Softball celebrated their 50th anniversary last year and now provide their service to nearly 2500 kids every year. No child is turned away for a lack of money and every child gets to have their minute.