James Stephens Iii
I have been to Syracuse twice in the past forty years. Both times I had to see "Coach". You knew where to find him. So I waltz in after 19 years and he gasps, audibly. A mountain of alcohol, scribbled signs in his familiar handwriting. Jimmers...Oh! Jimmers!! We talked so little about baseball, save for that time he pulled me for a trick catch in center field. "You can do it in practice, not in the game." Gramsci, Russell, the Stoics replaced rundowns and bunts. I never returned to Syracuse until now, in thought alone. Coach ... an intellectual giant with a knowing sparkle in his eye. Someone who his Lord and Savior wants to embrace and talk to, that is certain.
