The Deto Bobcats imaginary baseball team, part 1: the backyard fungo era

In honor of the beginning of baseball season, and marking the 50th anniversary of my baseball fandom, it's time for me to finally write a post that I've been thinking of writing for a few years. I've avoided it all this time due to a level of embarrassment I've had about the subject.

In 1976, when I was eight years old, I created an imaginary baseball team called the Deto Bobcats. (Deto pronounced "DEE-to"). I imagined Deto as an imaginary city, and it's name was inspired by Detroit, the city I lived in between 1973 and 1979. I probably don't need to explain that "Bobcats" was a feline spinoff of "Tigers."

In the Bobcats' earliest incarnation, the "team" (i.e., ME, with a whiffle ball and plastic bat) played its games in my backyard. The way our backyard was configured, it loosely resembled a tiny baseball field. The "homeplate" area was a strip of lawn that was bordered on the left by a concrete walking path leading out from our three-seasons porch and on the right by the curved apron of the driveway. It was a spot where my dad always struggled to grow grass, so it already vaguely resembled the dirt circle surrounding homeplate. (With me making this spot "homeplate," his struggle to grow grass was never ending). The "third base line" paralleled the three-seasons porch and the "first base line" extended beyond the garage. The "outfield fences" were, of course, our yard fences. Right field was much deeper than left field.

I played the Bobcats' games by myself. I'd toss the whiffle ball in the air "fungo style" and swing at it with the plastic bat. If the ball cleared the fences in "fair territory," it was a home run. Of course, that meant hopping the fence to retrieve the ball. If I was able to poke one all the way out over the "right field" field fence, finding the ball was more difficult because of a veritable jungle of shrubbery along the neighbor's property line just beyond the fence. 

I also mimicked the batting stances of both real and imaginary players. From the very beginning, the Bobcats played real major league baseball teams. I also provided my own play-by-play in a style inspired by the Tigers' TV and radio broadcasters George Kell and Ernie Harwell.

Then there were the players' names. Tom Hendrichs, John Acce (pronounced "Ace." I have no idea what inspired the second "c"), Joe Bedelia, and Stan Saltzerman were the first players I remember creating. Tom Hendrichs was envisioned as a veteran outfielder/designated hitter in the vein of the Tigers' Mickey Stanley. John Acce was the Bobcats' intrepid starting pitcher in that first season. Joe Bedelia was an outfielder whose last name was inspired by the children's book character Amelia Bedelia (hey, I was eight years old!). Stan Saltzerman was a ultility player with a last name tweaked from a kid I knew at Vetal Elementary named Mike Saltzman. (Mike, if you're out there, I hope you're well).

In Part 2, I'll discuss how the Bobcats made the transition from backyard fungo to games played with a card game and box scores intricately created from lined paper.