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R.L. Turner: Catching up with Chris Sison
June 26th, 2008, 2:30 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Brad Milner
Journalism is a profession built upon deadlines.
To that point, I had to place a deadline on my series, “Turning 12″ so I could finish it in time to do ample proofreading and editing. Plus I’m going on vacation next week so time was a factor in more ways than one.
This blog has proved to be a perfect way to incorporate information that couldn’t be squeezed into the series or wasn’t available when I started writing. That’s where Chris Sison comes in.
Sison was one of the few R.L. Turner players who went on to excel at the same position they played in the Little League World Series. He was a catcher for R.L. Turner, and played at that position while pitching for Central High in Grand Forks, N.D.
His family moved from Bay County to North Dakota in 1998. He was Central’s cleanup hitter for four seasons, and Sison was an immediate star in leading them to the state tournament several times. He was the losing pitcher as a senior in a game that would have advanced the team to the state event.
He lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is engaged. He works for Terminix, which he said wasn’t a glamorous living but a living none the less.
His baseball career ended after Tommy John surgery following his senior year. He’s played some amateur baseball, but admitted he hasn’t regained his familiar form.
“I haven’t been able to be where I want to in a good three years,” he said.
Sison, who remains good friends with R.L. Turner teammate Heath Anderson, said he owns videos of every game in the World Series. He takes time to watch most of them, expect for the final game.
“The thing I remember most os that heartbreaking ending,” Sison said. “But I took that as my major leagues. That’s what I’ll talk about with my kids and my grandkids.”
Sure did enjoy reading about this; every day during the time it ran I eagerly awaited the paper to get the next installment.
I don’t know any of the players or coaches, but always root for the locals, and this was something to make you proud to be from good old PC.
I was in Brooklyn, New York at the time, staying at my cousin’s place, and they didn’t have cable. I missed all the games save the game they lost in the finals, but I caught that at the local bar. It was a bar where the police and firemen hang out, and I yelled at the TV in favor of the local guys so much that by the end of the game, the entire bar was rooting for the kids from Panama City. It wasn’t me, it was the hustle, heart and class of the players and coaches of that team that won them over. It’s nice to remember that.