Friday, April 17, 2020

Make Some Racket


Apparently it’s #BatAppreciationDay so here’s a picture of my very first real one: A Wilson Jack Kramer Junior Autograph, chosen to be like Tracy Austin, of course. (She was tiny too, but used the standard model!) As I recall, my family was visiting my mother's aunt and uncle in Potomac, Maryland, in 1978 when we happened upon a pro shop in nearby Rockville. Although my stepfather was notoriously cheap, my mom took one look at Billy, Terence and me marveling over the selection of professional level tennis equipment -- as opposed to the stuff we had from Korvettes -- and persuaded Gary to let each of us pick out the one racket we really desired.


Bill chose the Donnay FiberWood. I think he wanted to be like Bjorn Borg, but had a theory that the fiberglass component was a better fit for his game than Bjorn's AllWood. (The Borg Pro hadn't come along yet. They also made a LadyWood, but somehow I resisted getting it!) Terence got the Head Junior. I can't (yet) find a photo of it, but it was smaller, like mine, but made of aluminum with a yellow yoke.


I got all excited to look at everyone else's #BatAppreciatioiotnDay submissions, but so far the only one I see is Judy Murray's. (It turns out she was just being "cheeky.") If you played tennis, please tell me what your first bat was.

(I wrote a history of my rackets HERE.) 

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