The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I was happy to see my friend and fellow “Dalton” Frank Sweeting “smelling the roses’’ before he departs this world i.e being inducted into The Bahamas Hall of Fame via baseball.

“Lover”, as he is affectionately called, got his start on the grounds of The Southern Recreation and Clifford Parks,and ended it at the Andre Rodgers Baseball Diamond moving through the ranks of Senior League Teams such as H G Christie, Citibank, Del Jane, Mary Kelly and Saint Bernards.

I started following Frankie’s career after I graduated from high school and especially after his heroics in Wichita in 1968 where he won three games and became a local hero.

My familiarity with Frank started much earlier than that, as in 1964 we attended Book-Keeping classes on the Fort Hill under the guidance of the late Tony ‘‘Box” Alleyne. I always told Frank that “Box” closed the school shortly after Frank joined – for reasons I do not know.

Frankie also assisted me greatly with my dancing ability, as I had the distinct privilege and pain of trying to dance to the music of Tony Seymour’s band of which he was a member (drummer) at the Banana Boat in the early sixties and listen to him literally destroy the drums.

Despite his few fallibilities Frank persevered on the baseball diamond. There never was a day when he refused to take the ball or complained about a sore arm. He always gave more than 100 per cent and for his small frame, he had the heart of a lion. He always told me he is indebted to his parents for his strong arm as every time he got disciplined he would throw rocks at the homestead.

I think his only regret on the diamond was when he over threw the ball to first base for the last out in 1966 which would have given his team H G Christie the championship over the eventual winner St Bernards.

Hail to the Chief. You made it!

BRYAN A C WRIGHT

Nassau,

January 5, 2015.