- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction Score
- 110
My grandfather took me to that Jimmy Fund event in Waterbury. I was 12 or 13. There had already been a game between some Waterbury kids and Williams’ camp team (I think Joe Coleman pitched). Joan was in her prime. She threw from softball distance. Williams was retired, and while still splendid, was no longer a splinter. He took full swings, never tried to chop or slap, and was wonderfully funny and gracious about the whole thing. He also hit against Naugatuckian Spec Shea—they ribbed each other a bit on mic before they got started (Shea threatened to “put him on his a**), and it was a lot more like batting practice, although there was a crowd actually in the outfield. Williams hit a high, high fly to short left which descended only to rocket back up into the air, evidently off someone’s dome. Everyone wanted to see Ted Williams hit, and cheered on every pitch. It was a great, happy, joyful event. (Well, maybe not for the guy who got hit on the head.) Everybody was proud of Joan.
Joan Joyce is in the elite of elite athletes. Tremendous lower body drive, and that slingshot was murder. Until you got used to seeing her pitch, you couldn't believe she was doing what she was doing. Try to think of anyone more dominant.
Joan Joyce is in the elite of elite athletes. Tremendous lower body drive, and that slingshot was murder. Until you got used to seeing her pitch, you couldn't believe she was doing what she was doing. Try to think of anyone more dominant.
The Brakettes gave me my first real appreciation for women's sports -- and for me to be a sportswriter (which I was in college and early in my career).
