Ben East Books

Tag: pole vault

  • Little League IV: ‘Glory’

    Little League IV: ‘Glory’

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    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    There was nothing like pole vault. Our equipment was flawed: old fiberglass poles with no give. Coach knew nothing about it and left us to our own devices. Half a dozen guys tried. Sprint hard as we might, the pole didn’t budge. We climbed it like pillaging savages. Between stints climbing the pole—8 feet, 9…

  • Little League III: Pole Vault

    Little League III: Pole Vault

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    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    I tried out for high school ball the following year. I hit longer, straighter flies than I had at tryouts the year before. The coach—who slept on a basement bed in the very apartment where I delivered my middle school coach’s newspaper—already knew the story. ‘He’ll hit in tryouts. Goose-egg during the season.’ Rated beneath…