This is how I remember Tombol: when I look at this photo of the 1993 Rangers -- Little League Champs that year of the HydePark/ Kenwood Baseball League -- I remember how Tombol and my son Daniel used to trade off in right field on that team, each as anxious as the other to be put in the game and send the other one back to the bench.....and how Tombol had the most cheerleaders when his sister or one of his brothers would come and sit in the stands -- never with the moms as we sat next to each other near the bottom -- but high up at the top, set apart in their teenaged-ness grinning at their little brother. Tombol's Mom and I marveled at our equally tall-and-skinny-all-elbows-and-knees sons as they increasingly moved away from awkwardness to better and greater skills in pursuit of their 7-inning dreams. Whenever Tombol dived after a long after a long-distance fly coming his way, he always came up smiling. Whether he had run up close enough to reach the ball or not, he always leaped out as far as he could hurl himself -- seemingly for the pure joy of throwing his body through the air!..... I guess we should be thinking now that Tombol has finally found his wings.....Oh my!... "Fly Tombol! Fly!"
Daniel's Mom (Julie)
