I’d promised my wife, upon arrival in the great American South, we’d rent one of those big, American jobs, and cruise our way, in southern style, into South Carolina. Being from the northern hinterlands of Japan she thought the Dodge Intrepid was pretty cool so there we were shootin’ along the Georgia Interstate, she reposed and relaxed with her bare feet on the dash, lookin’ as sexy as the day is long while singing to C&W blasting from the radio.
We’d been in Asia for more than three months, half the time in Tokyo and the other half split between Vietnam and Thailand, and it seemed a dream to actually be on the road, heading from Atlanta to Clemson, home of the renown Clemson University Tigers. About 20 miles out, we saw the first of an endless number of huge orange tiger paws, painted on the highway, and felt the adrenaline rush of entering “Tiger Country”. The long anticipated weekend was nearly upon us and I couldn’t help but ease the Intrepid up over 80. You see Wake Forest University’s baseball team was in Clemson for a weekend clash of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) power houses and my son, whom I hadn’t seen since the previous summer, was Wake Forest’s second baseman. And, if that wasn’t enough, Wake Forest was having it’s best year ever and was ranked Number 3 in America. Guess who was Number 1? You got it, the Clemson Tigers. Oh yeah, one other thing, my son, Nicolas, aka Nick Blue, was the reigning ACC player of the week. As any Dad who’s hit a million grounders to his kid can tell you, I was trippin big time!
So there we were, Friday night in Clemson, watching the pre-game warm-ups. Nicolas fielding ground balls and running sprints in the outfield. Yoshiko downing popcorn. Ten thousand orange clad Tiger fans filing into their seats. And all of it overseen by an omnipotent looking massive back-lit orange tiger paw. If orange is the color of Clemson then tiger paws are the heart and soul. ”Paws” are on the buildings, on the cars, on the hats, on the sidewalks, on the highways. They’ve even got paws on the baseball field, in right and left center, a few feet before the fence, in orange chalk. There’s nothing like college sports in America and nothing rivals Clemson University’s frenzy for sports. Maybe that’s because there’s not much in Clemson, South Carolina, except Clemson University, coffee shops, and beer guzzling joints. A short distance from the baseball field is the football stadium. They call that “The Valley of Death”. Clemson is real serious about their teams.
The game that Friday night started out with the Tigers jumping out to a two run lead. The Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest looked flat, like they just got off a four hour bus ride, which they did, and perhaps not worthy of their Number 3 national ranking. My son, in his first trip to the plate, hitting left-handed, lined out to second. His second trip, in the 3rd, he was gunned down at first after attempting a drag bunt. By the time the 5th inning rolled around, Wake Forest had managed only one hit and continued to trail, 2 zip. As Nicolas stepped into the box, still hitting from the left side, the huge electronic scoreboard in centerfield displayed “Nick Blue – Fairfax, CA“.
I clearly remember that moment because my mind flashed to his second day of life, April 17, 1981. I had walked into town from my house in the hills with the one-day old Nicolas Blue strapped to my chest. I stopped in a small place for coffee and someone asked, “You got a human being in there?” “Yeah, my son.” Nick Blue went deep in the count, fouling off several pitches and taking three for balls. Suddenly, “bam”, he hit a shot into right-center and a puff of orange chalk flew as the ball hit the tiger paw and one hopped into the wall. He strolled into second for a stand up double. I was on my feet hollering as if he’d just hit a game winning home run in the World Series. Energized the next batter singled him in and Wake Forest had their first run on the board.
When Nicolas led off the 7th, the score still stood Clemson 2, Wake Forest 1. The Tigers had brought in a new pitcher who tossed from the left side so the switch-hitting Blue boy moved to the right side of the plate. Once again he looked at several pitches, waiting for something he liked. ”Kaboom” he rifled a liner over the first baseman’s head. Without hesitation he rounded first and headed to second, sliding in, beating the tag. He advanced to third on an infield out. The next batter hit a shallow fly to left center. Nicolas tagged and headed home. Going in headfirst he tied the score and opened the gates for his teammates. A following single and then a home run and just like that the Demon Deacons had edged ahead of America’s Number 1 college baseball team, 4 to 2. I have a clear picture in my mind of the entire Wake Forest team congratulating the player who hit the home run as he arrived at home plate. My son is in the middle with black paint on his high cheek bones amid a look of confidence. Absolute beauty!
In the 9th, Nick Blue, the ACC’s Player of the Week, came up, hitting again from the right side. As was his pattern, he looked at several pitches and fouled off many before slamming a shot, right in front of my eyes, down the left field line. As fine a hit as his was, Clemson’s leftfielder one-upped him by sprinting over and with an all out dive and a fully extended glove caught my son’s rocket. America at it’s finest!
Wake Forest won the Friday night game 4 to 2. In spite of the tiger paws, they had beaten the Number 1 team in America, in their home park, in front of 10,000 screaming orange fans. For a moment, they were the best college baseball team in the country!
On Saturday night, Nicolas started out where he left off with a single over the second baseman. Clearly he wanted to steal second so he led off first with an extra half step. He drew no less than 5 throws from the pitcher, each time he dove back to the bag. On the last dive he hit hard and I knew he hurt himself. Sure enough he had separated his right shoulder. But he kept it to himself and even took his position in the field in the bottom half of the inning. With a Clemson runner on first, the batter hit what would be a routine double play ball to Nicolas. He grabbed it and then instead of flipping to the shortstop for the force he underhanded the ball to first. His throw went 10 feet over the first baseman’s head. A roar of laughter came from the sea of orange in the grandstands. He couldn’t go on and came out of the game, very much in pain. Clemson went on to win that game and Sunday’s as well. The injured Nick Blue, Wake Forest’s spark, could only watch from the dugout.
In June of 2002, Nicolas had surgery on his injured shoulder. He had come back a few weeks after Clemson and played several games and was even selected to the ACC All Tournament Team and the NCAA Regional Tournament Team. However, his shoulder continued to bother him so he opted for surgery at the end of the season. His hope was to be back at full strength for his final year at Wake Forest and help his team make a run for the College World Series this coming June. Unfortunately, his body had not fully healed by the opening game of this season and so, very reluctantly, has taken a “medical red-shirt” for the entire 2003 season at Wake Forest. By doing so he retains eligibility for one more year of college baseball. This spring, a time he had hoped would be full of challenge and opportunity, he goes to the games and only watches. How difficult it must be.
I remember telling Yoshiko before we left Japan last April that going to see Nicolas in Clemson would rival my seeing Elvis, in his first live show in 9 years, at Las Vegas‘ International Hotel in August, 1969. I have always considered that show to be the finest entertainment I have ever seen. Well, I ain’t forgetting the King, but seeing my son lead his team to victory over the Number 1 Clemson Tigers, on that Friday night in South Carolina, blew Elvis out of the water!
