My Pal Jesse

In a minute I'll tell you  about former Blue Jay Jesse Barfield. and why I have a crush on him.

The Blue Jays came into my life about the time  we moved from the boonies into downtown Toronto.

On Saturdays, when the team was in town, we started attending the games with our son Mike .Oh those gorgeous afternoons getting seriously sunburned  in the outdoor exhibition stadium .
During one of the first games, there was some sort of tension building between the teams and they all thundered out of the dugouts onto the field. It sounded like a herd of bison (remember, bison  grow to a ton or more) and I was sure these players would  kill one another.

Apparently this is a guy thing and they all snarled and pushed a little but that was it.

Eventually the Jays moved into the newly built domed stadium and that was a treat in itself. 

The team won the world series in ’92 and ’93 and we were thrilled out of our socks

We were so in touch with that team that we knew the names of their kids and what they ate for breakfast. I can’t remember now who it was, but one player and his wife had a noisy altercation in a hotel lobby in town, and two days later they had to sit for a televised news conference to explain themselves.

That was life with the Jays in those days

Then we had this lengthy dry spell when the heroes all retired or went off to other teams and it was re-building time which took a whole lot of years.

Last year they began to show some substance and this year, the pouring- in of a bunch of money and some new players and they are looking really good.

But I started out to tell you about Jesse Barfield. 

He was an outfielder in their golden days with an amazing arm .

Well, recently I saw in the local paper that he was coming to town for one night to give a talk at a great  place called THEMUSEUM, a unique non-profit center with visiting exhibits such as two-story tall  dinosaurs, much smaller Egyptian mummies, and you can also hear talks from  live people like Jesse.

Above-mentioned son Mike is a board member so it wasn't hard to persuade him to take me to see Jesse for his one-night stand. 

Was I thrilled? Damned straight. There was my hero of the early 90’s, looking twelve feet tall and charming. I got to meet him before his talk and he gave me a hug.

Here I am looking short for the first time in my life, with my hero. Besides, how often do I get to be the only female among almost a dozen men?

Jesse is a delightful speaker and a lovely man.

The present team is growing on me but there wil always be a special place in my heart for Jesse and the rest of the team  of twenty-odd years ago