The obituary of Danny Kaeka noted that he had played fast pitch softball, and Islanders who remember his pitching stated that “no one could hit off him.”

As one who faced his pitching, I have a simple explanation for why that was: You can’t hit what you can’t see.

You would stand there at bat, trying to look formidable and succeeding as far as pitiful. Danny would start his windup and then thwack! The ball would hit the catcher’s mitt. It did not travel from his hand to the mitt. It was in one place and then it was in the other.

And soon you were trudging back to the dugout.

But if you looked back, he’d catch your eye and give you that sweet smile, big as the moon, and you couldn’t help but feel better.

David P.B. Stephens
East Chop