Inside Power

Chapter 1 You can be shunned and scorned," my grandfather said. "You can be abused and confused, but if you have Inside Power, you have everything. Inside Power is what gets you through." I thought Grandpa was talking about blasting the ball when they pitch it close to your body. Turns out that was only part of it. This business of Inside Power is the lesson of a lifetime. Fact is, it's the story of my life: how I learned it, lost it, and finally found it again; how Inside Power changed everything about me. Don't worry, I'm not going to preach or give some lecture. I'm just going to tell you a story about how a boy became a man. It starts in the backyard when I'm four. BUG The summer heat was brutal. Must have been a hundred degrees, but I didn't care. I was with my uncle. My uncle was my sunshine. My uncle was letting me into his world and, man, my heart was singing. Two little boys running around the backyards and sandlots of Tampa, Florida, 1972. Dwight Gooden, age eight. Gary Sheffield, age four. Dwight was my uncle, Mama's younger brother, fourteen years younger than Mamaand to me, an only child, a big brother. I always wanted to be in Dwight's world. He was strong and athletic. He was tall for his age and the apple of his parents'my grandparents'eye. Little boys look up to big boys. Little boys want to be big boys. Little boys dream big dreams, and I was no different. I wanted to run with the older guys. Wanted to do whatever they did. Wanted to get out there and show 'em I was big enough to play. Dwight was finally letting me in. I'd been begging, he'd been resisting, and now he finally agreed. We were going to play ball. I'd been watching him as long as I was alive. I'd been waiting for this moment. I had the blind courage of a kid who didn't know any better. Man, I was ready. When you're a kid, nothing matters but playingnot the stifling heat, not your scrawny body, not your raggedy little shorts. You just want to get out there and mix it up. The dirt lot was scruffy, the ground uneven, weeds and rocks popping up everywhere. "You stand right here," said Dwight before walking off forty-six feet, the exact distance between the mound and home plate in Little League. "You gotta catch me," he added. "I gotta practice." Catch him? Sure, I'll catch him! I've been dying to catch him! I've been going to his Little League games and watching him pitch. Now I'm in on the action! We didn't have any gloves, just a white rubber ball. I crouched down in my best imitation of a catcher. Dwight wound up and let it rip. The thing came at me with such blinding speed, I jumped out of the way. It blew right past me. Dwight laughed. "You ain't ready," he said. "I am too. Throw it again." I stood there, determined to hold my ground. The second pitch came in like lightning. This time I reached out to catch it, but the ball struck with such force I felt my arm rip from my shoulder. I'd never felt such pain. "Wanna quit?" asked Dwight. I wanted to say yes, but instead I said, "Throw me grounders," figuring grounders would be easier. The first grounder, though, hit a rock, flew up and smacked me hard in the face. That was it. I started crying and ran inside. "Come on," Dwight protested. "Let's keep playing." "Mama!Sheffield, Gary is the author of 'Inside Power ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780307352224 and ISBN 0307352226.