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DEL.ICIO.USHome run personal for player
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before the game, he visited his sister’s grave.
At the grave site, Austin Chambers made a birthday promise to Abigail Grace Chambers, barely 7 weeks old when she died of a rare disease on Aug. 19, 2007. Big brother made a promise: to hit her a home run.
On July 14, Parkview Team Georgia played the Duluth Wildcats in Bunten Park for the Dixie League state championship. It was the bottom of the seventh inning, Team Georgia was down 7-4. Two outs and two men on base. Austin, 16, a right-hand hitter and second baseman, was at bat.
Whack! The ball climbed higher and higher.
“I thought I’d hit it too high, and that it was just going to pop up,” said Austin, a rising senior at Parkview High. “But it kept going and going.”
He rounded third base crying. His father, Sam Chambers, is Team Georgia’s third-base coach. He cried, too. July 14 - game day - would have been Abigail’s first birthday.
“I didn’t find out [about the birthday promise] till we were on the way home from the game,” said Chambers, manager of the Mountain Park Athletic Association Senior League all-star squad. “It was a storybook finish. Just a storybook.”
As the game wore on, the story got sweeter.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrew Johnson, 19, hit a three-run, walk-off home run. Game over, 10-7. With the victory, Team Georgia became the 2008 Dixie Majors state champs. They’ll compete in the Dixie Majors World Series, which begins Saturday in Dyersburg, Tenn. The squad would like to rent minivans for the historic trip.
“It’s a lot easier with three or four vans as opposed to 13 vehicles,” Chambers told me. “I could talk about every one of these kids forever. They are amazing.”
To defray costs, the team has collected money from people and businesses. More is needed, though. Waffle House No. 1054, at the corner of Indian Trail Lilburn Road and Lawrenceville Highway, has stepped in. The team will receive 10 percent of all sales ‘twixt the hours of 2 and 9 p.m. through Thursday, said Diane Canfield, a veteran employee who lives in Lilburn.
“How about letting Gwinnett County know that this is the only team from Georgia,?” she wrote.
Parkview Team Georgia faces Team North Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday in its first game of the World Series. I wish them well.
Tammy Chambers, Austin’s mom, wrote in an e-mail that the state championship game was extra special because of Austin’s birthday homer. But she stressed something else.
“This was a TEAM effort,” she wrote, capitalizing the word to stress its importance. “It was special to all who participated.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By Steve
July 22, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
So if I read this right, he didn’t tell anyone he promised the home run until after he hit it?
By Bruce Wilcox
July 22, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
What can’t you understand Steve, it was a promise he made to Abigail, if he failed, his sorrow would be his alone to bear.
The promise after the homer became a celebration to be shared by all.
Simple really.
By His Mom
July 22, 2008 7:09 PM | Link to this
Not sure if he shared the promise before the hit with anyone. After the hit, I asked if it felt good, and his reply was “yes… I told Abigail I would hit one for her today”.
By Brian
July 22, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this
You guys are so cynical it’s funny. Anyway, I know the kid, and it was private promise he shared with his family after it happened. Nice to see a family come away with a little more than a baseball victory. It seems God knows when to smile on someone when they need it most. Life is truely bitter sweet.
By Steve
July 22, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this
I’m not trying to be cold hearted, I was just curious is all. I understand it’s hard to promise something that’s not a sure a thing. I was just curious how much at stake he really had on making the hit.
By What're you, an idiot
July 22, 2008 9:45 PM | Link to this
Nice, Steve. Real nice.
By Katie
July 23, 2008 5:50 AM | Link to this
We go from a good discussion, Jesse Jackson using the ‘bad word’ to fluff?? At least with the previous discussion we were learning what people really thought. I’m outta here!!!
By MJK
July 23, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Katie, reading through the posts from the last blog entry I see people calling eachother dumb as hell and other names. I dont know how that qualifies as a good discussion.
I apprecite the stories Rick shares about our neighbors and their individual struggles and triumphs. I think it makes it easier to take some of the name calling with a grain of salt.
By Hear the Herd
July 23, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
Good job, Rick. I hope enough dough was raised. I’m broke, but prayer is free, so……I hope that little girl is praying for you, cause you can never get enough prayers, at least I cant.
In fact I bet nobody ever prays for me except to tell me that they’re praying for me as a put down. “I’ll pray for you, you miserable….” Well, you know what I mean.
I once went to confession. The next day the priest related details of my confession to the entire congregation during his homily and grew angry as he spoke and was actually shouting condemnations in my direction. I was so embarrassed. He must have recognized me through the screen. “If you people find yourself confessing the same sins over and over all your life, then you may as well give up….”
I remember one time I confessed a sin and the priest let out a very surrendering sigh of disgust and hopelessness. He didn’t even give me any penance, like it would be fruitless to continue with my spiritual life.
How did we get on this topic? You’re good, Rich, you’re real good. You get people to let their hair down. OKAY! ALRIGHT! I admit it. I’m a sinner! There, are you happy now?
JK lol