Flip 5--David Douglas High School

5/26/2007 4:21 PM Saturday

Location: David Douglas High School athletic fields

It is a muggy first day of the Memorial Day weekend. No rain, but a high overcast seals in the heat and moisture. I'm in the dugout of the junior varsity baseball field, first base side, on a gray park bench that serves at seating for the ballplayers.

On the tennis courts nearby, a father and son trade volleys. The father, in red t-shirt and headband, exhorts his son to loft the ball higher. They are Asian, perhaps Filipino. On the court next to theirs, a larger group of Vietnamese boys hit a ball around. They're just goofing off. One of them is much louder than the others, and groans loudly whever a shot goes the wrong way.

The grass smells sweet. I like in it face down, listening to the "poch-poch-poch" of bouncing tennis balls echo across the field. The grass grows in scattered tufts which, if looked at from the side, a low angle, appear to form a carpet of lush, green grass but, when looked at up close, or from directly overhead, reveal a great deal of bareness and weeds.

In a grassy space between the two baseball diamonds, there sits a small shed closed by red gates which read "DDX". A track leading out of the building fades out into the grass, but at one time seemed to connect the two sides of the campus. I peer inside the darkened shed and can make out a bright red-painted bus of some sort, with "David Douglas Railroad" stenciled on the front.

Sitting in the deserted steel bleachers of the varsity baseball field, I look at a faded sign dedicated to a DDHS alum, John Jaha, who played here in the early and mid-1980s. His stats for the Scots are painted below his name and number (10).

According to the sign, Jaha played for David Douglas between 1981 and 1984, then in the pros (Brewers and A's), becoming an all-star. I wonder what happened to his high school teammates while he went on to major league glory.

Two teenage girls stroll barefoot in the dirt between first and second bases. In the outfield, signs advertising local businesses, Adidas, the Army and Marine Corps line the fence.