baseball – The Rhiter – A Writer From Rhode Island

The Boy Who Threw Strikes – Hang Loose Everybody, Hang Loose

Dougie Walsh had a new grip on the baseball that allowed him to experiment with a wide range of pitches. His youth coaches had always preached throwing strikes and pitching to contact. Dougie, with his insane accuracy, often took this advice too literally and was often on the wrong end of 10 run rule games…

The Mural Of The Story – An 8Unassisted Photo Gallery of Wondrous Wall Art

Admittedly, my artistic drawing ability starts and ends with stick figures and primitive sketches. My character’s faces typically have no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no ears, sometimes a head of hair, most likely a hat of some sort. So when I see a mural or piece of art painted on a wall, side of…

Afternoon Baseball at Baum-Walker Stadium for Arkansas vs Omaha

I recently spent a week in Arkansas at a management training conference for the company I work for ArcBest (ABF Freight). It was the second trip to Arkansas in the past two months, as many of the corporation’s managers and supervisors (like myself) are just now catching on company training that Covid-19 short circuited. Classes…

The Boy Who Threw Strikes – A New Grip On Reality

After Dougie Walsh pitched (perhaps) the worst game of his young baseball career, he hopped in his mom’s car with a giant scowl on his face. His mom asked him what happened out there today. Dougie shrugged and said, “I don’t know, I just couldn’t get a good feel for the baseball.” His mom asked…

The Boy Who Threw Strikes – Making Friends and Winning Prizes

Dougie Walsh was becoming a local folk hero of sorts. His recent heroics in nabbing or striking down a potential purse snatcher had garnered him a “Local Hero” medal from the Mayor. Friends and even strangers wanted to see how good Dougie’s aim was in other arenas, so they set out to discover just that.…

The Billboard Says It All – Thank You, North Carolina

At the tail end of March, I traveled to Fort Smith, Arkansas for another week of management training. Four days of meetings, guest speakers on topics like health initiatives, conflict resolution, critical thinking and more related to my position as a supervisor in a busy trucking company – ABF Freight. Prior to my arrival in…

The Boy Who Threw Strikes – An 8Unassisted Baseball Cartoon

Dougie Walsh had a knack for throwing strikes. As a youth baseball player, Dougie would spend countless hours during the cold New England Winters in his garage throwing baseballs at targets like empty milk cartons. Once the weather improved enough to go outside, Dougie drew a strike zone on his parent’s shed and pelted it…

A Toast To A Life Well Traveled – An 8Unassisted St. Pats Photo Gallery

Today is March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. For many, the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day is extra incentive to go out and imbibe a nice whiskey or a tall frosty ale, whether it be 10am or 10pm. For the rest of us, it is a work day and we have to be mindful of responsibilities…

The Big Ole Adventures of Cougar Maine – An Afternoon At The Ballpark

Cougar and the Big Ole Truck left Maine's Grocery store lot to cheers Cougar, in his mind, knew they were cheers of joy, not derision He hopped on I-77 and rolled his windows down The highway was a great place to showcase his music A few miles up the road, Cougar spotted a busy park…

More Than Just A Statue – An 8Unassisted Photo Gallery of Statues

Finding statues, memorial plaques, and historical landmarks has always been a priority when I travel. And I am talking about traveling to the next town over, a completely different state, or out of the country altogether. Statues and plaques help tell the story of a local hero tied to that area or sports town or…