Back when I was a kid, I played baseball at Plumber Field

I was never any good, but I learned a lot from those years

One season I played was tougher than October’s fall

I was on a team with menacing young men

And I always felt so small

My teammates would cut me down to size

Intimidating the living shit out of me with their ice cold eyes

I was young as mud and as thin as a rake

On a team like that, there was no room for mistakes

Sometimes coach would put me at the start of the lineup

A place that was previously held by my teammate, Ryder

He would exchange words of fear to me while on deck

Fueling my nerves like a brigadier roughneck

I eventually quit the game when I found punk rock

But those emotions were soon brought back

When painful news spread throughout my high school

My old teammate had chased his girlfriend around with a rifle

He attempted to kill her but then shot himself instead

I started seeing stickers, flags, and shirts that read his name in a phrase

I didn’t understand why he was being remembered

With love and high praise

He was one of the people who ruined a game I loved

He was one of the people that made me want to give up

I didn’t understand it then, but now I do

I’ve learned from my nerved past and I hope he did too

Sometimes people will push you down to stand themselves up

Don’t hate them, embrace them, and never give up

Fly high, Ryder