[Alsfastball] Art Gillis and me - by Judd P. Berthiaume

[Al Doran]

Subject: Art Gillis and me
From: "Judd P. Berthiaume" <fastball at juddpatrick.com>
To: fastball at pmihrm.com


Art Gillis and me
-
As I sat watching the game between the Midland Explorers and the Fargo IS
Knights from the home plate bleachers the other day, I noticed Art Gillis
and my dad watching the game from one of the VIP tents on either side of
the bleachers at Gelein Field in Eau Claire.  Art’s son, Doug, was
throwing a gem of a ballgame to that point and anyone who has ever been
around Art during one of his son’s games knows that Doug’s intensity on
the field is probably only matched by his fathers.  After a couple innings
I couldn’t resist but wander down with my fiancé, Shelly, and sit with Art
and my dad, and to get Art’s pitch-by-pitch reaction to the happenings on
the field.

Anyone who has ever had the chance to talk with Art Gillis knows why he
always draws softball’s finest players, coaches, sponsors and fans to his
presence.  His more than 80 years of life experience includes more than 65
years of fastpitch softball stories from his days as a player, manager,
and sponsor.  They are stories with an edge ­ stories everyone likes to
hear over and over.  In fact, many of the stories begin with Art’s
admission, “I might have told you this one before.”  Still, in the hours
I’ve been around Art, I’ve never witnessed a single instance of a listener
stopping him because they had already heard the tale.  Everyone is content
with hearing the stories another time.

As I walked into the park on that afternoon, shortly after showing the VIP
pass I was given for my new position as Pitching Clinics Administrator to
the ticket-taker, I saw Art slowly pacing behind the third-base bleachers.
  When he saw me he told me his mission was “to find some bananas.”
“Really?” I asked.  “Yeah ­ leg cramps like you wouldn’t believe,” he told
me.  Let me just say I was relieved to finally see that he had found a
comfortable chair in the shade.

You can imagine my dismay when one of the younger World Tournament workers
came over and booted Mr. Gillis out of the VIP tent for not possessing a
VIP pass. (To the worker’s defense, in hindsight, he didn’t know who Art
Gillis was and he was probably instructed to do what he did, though
hopefully more prudence will be exercised in the future.)  It was an
embarrassing situation for the tournament hosts because only 10 or so of
the 50-60 seats under the tent were full when this situation came up.  It
was an embarrassing situation for me after spending five minutes telling
the gentleman that he was out of line for making a stink about the VIP
passes in front of my new colleagues at the ISC.  It was embarrassing for
Art Gillis, who just wanted a comfortable spot to rest his legs and watch
his son throw a great ballgame without being in the middle of any trouble.

I’ve never been a fan of anything with the letters “VIP” on it.  This was
the first time I received a VIP pass since the late, great Bob Welby asked
me if I had a pass to the tournament about 10 years ago (when I was a
wide-eyed ballplayer witnessing the tournament for one of my first times)
and when I told him I didn’t he promptly pulled a VIP pass out of his
pocket and handed it to me to use the rest of the week.  And even with my
new position I don’t feel worthy of being regarded as an important person
(though I must say that there are a lot of people in the ISC that work
like crazy all year and deserve that recognition 100%).  My point being
that I did not sit in the specially allotted seats because I had a VIP
pass.  I sat in those seats because one of the most important people in
the park on that afternoon sat in those seats without one.  I sat there
because that is where Art Gillis was.

I apologize to anyone who was offended or inconvenienced by my outrage on
that afternoon.  At the same time, I encourage anyone who witnesses such a
situation in the future to, more politely, ask that a softball legend be
excused for at least a few more innings before being uprooted from his
seat.  It is because of people like Art Gillis ­ a man who claims there
are a lot of people who don’t like him, though evidence of that is nowhere
to be found ­ that fastpitch softball is what it is today.  That is why
you will see everyone from Denny Bruckert to Jody Hennigar make sure they
have at least a few minutes with Art over the course of the best nine
softball days in the world.

And so I leave you with this question, without regard to a piece of paper
either of us has in his pocket:  Art Gillis and me -- who is the VIP?  I
think we all know the answer to that one.

--
Judd P. Berthiaume
ISC Pitching Clinic Administrator
fastball at juddpatrick.com


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http://www.ISCfastball.com/  2005 Eau Claire, Wisconsin - August 12-20
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