Author: Dan Clouser

Polly gets her Letters

Polly gets her Letters

Posted by | Aug 2, 2021 | , |

In the mid-80’s she decided to quit a good paying job selling insurance and converted her 1967 Plymouth Valiant into a makeshift motorhome.  She removed the backseat, put in a sheet of plywood and a mattress to make a bed, and traveled all over this beautiful country of ours.  She named that little car Polly, Polly Plymouth to be exact.

As she traveled, she met many incredible people along the way.  I loved listening to her stories about them as well as reading about them in her journals after she passed.

As much as I admired her courage and bravery, never in a million years would I have imagined that I would follow in her footsteps and do the same thing.  God had other plans though.  After 30 years running a nonprofit youth sports organization, it was now time for me to spread my wings and really fly.

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Connection

Connection

Posted by | Jul 31, 2021 | , |

When Sandy and I started this journey, a big part of it for me was to find that connection that my mother found along her journey.  That real human connection.  Covid stripped that from us in the beginning to an extent, but I am grateful for those who we have connected with so far.  There are too many people to list, and if I try to, I will miss some.  But just know, that if you are reading this, and we’ve been fortunate enough to spend time with you since we’ve been on this journey, those moments, whether long or short are the fuel that continues to feed my soul.  Everyone that we’ve connected with and have been blessed to spend time with thus far, are my kind of weird.  We have nothing to gain from them, and they have nothing to gain from us.  We can just feed off of each other’s presence and friendship.  As I had written in my last blog, this journey has allowed us to connect with some people in person who I had only been connected with through social media prior to us meeting.  The first time that we ever did that, Sandy thought that it was a little bit strange.  She was hesitant, but to this day, she will tell you that one of our most special visits on this journey was with Homa and Andrew Schweers in Virginia.

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Merrie Fidler – A Master’s Thesis Leads to so much more

Merrie Fidler – A Master’s Thesis Leads to so much more

Posted by | Jul 30, 2021 | , , |

Merrie is also a published author.  She published the book, The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 2006.  The book was originally her master’s thesis, and as she became more involved with the players association, several of the former players were so impressed with her work, that they convinced her to get it published.  Merrie donates a large portion of the proceeds from her book to the players association.

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My Cup Runneth Over

My Cup Runneth Over

Posted by | Jul 25, 2021 | , , |

The past six weeks have been an extremely difficult time for me emotionally, but this week, my cup overflowed with joy and gratitude.

We spent the week at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, MD attending the Baseball for All Nationals.  Baseball for All is nonprofit organization that was founded by Justine Siegel to help create opportunities for girls and women in baseball.  To clarify, I’m referring to baseball, not softball.

Many times, when I start out having a conversation with someone about this subject, they will stop and say, “You mean girls’ softball, right?”

I politely clarify by saying, “Nope, baseball.  Girls Baseball.”

I was first exposed to women playing baseball in 1994, when I coached a team that played against the Colorado Silver Bullets Women’s Professional Baseball team.  From that point on, I always asked myself why the sport that I loved so much was a “Boys Club?”

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