A sports miracle, if you will, as Washougal’s John Scukanec plays catch with Ken Griffey Jr at Seattle T-Mobile Park
Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com
John Scukanek, a baseball romanticist and Seattle Mariners fan from Washougal, who set out to play catch with someone every day for a year completed journey Wednesday morning.
In Seattle.
At T-Mobile Park.
A Journey with Junior.
That’s right. Day 365 of Catch 365 was John Scukanek playing catch with Ken Griffey Jr.
Seriously.
Clark County Today’s Paul Valencia was Day 348, and he wrote about Scukanek and the origins of Catch 365. For that story, see: Catch 365: One man’s quest to play catch every day for a year
Scukanek had hoped for something special for Day 365.
Then a sports miracle happened. Miracle? Well, yes. That’s the way Scukanek described it on social media.
“I’ve done the match. It doesn’t add up. There’s just now way. How did this happen?” Scukanec wrote.
“One year ago, I went out into my backyard at night, in the rain and I played catch with my son. I haven’t missed a day since.
“365 days later, somehow, I walked out onto the field at T-Mobile Park and played catch again. With Ken Griffey Jr.
“Baseball Hall of Famer. The greatest Mariners of all time. My favorite player.”
He noted how if someone had said a year ago that this could happen, he would have said no chance.
“But sports are filled with miracles, Hail Mary’s, and buzzer beaters. Dreams come true all the time. That’s why we watch. Yet I still don’t really believe what just happened.”
Oh, it happened. He took pictures and video.
To see more of Scukanek’s message, go to his Twitter page at: @jsukanec
Also read:
- Daven Harmeling resigns as King’s Way Christian coach
Daven Harmeling is walking away from coaching after leading the King’s Way Christian Knights to Yakima in each of the past eight Class 1A state tournaments. - A family decision: Blake Conley resigns as Union’s boys basketball coachBlake Conley, who has been the head coach for the Union boys basketball team for the past 10 years and went to state in each of the past eight tournaments, has resigned to spend more time with his family.
- Clark County Today Sports Podcast, Episode 5: What it means to eliminate athletic director positionsThe sports enthusiasts discuss the proposed elimination of athletic director positions, as we know them, in Evergreen Public Schools, plus a shout-out to Camas girls basketball team, and more discussion on state tournament formats.
- Athletic directors from Evergreen Public Schools ‘blindsided’ and ‘shocked’The high school athletic directors from Evergreen, Heritage, Mountain View, and Union were told Monday that the district is recommending that their jobs be cut after this academic year.
- Camas Papermakers: In the DomeA behind-the-scenes look at a high school basketball team trying to chase a dream. Video production details the three-day run to the state finals for the Camas girls basketball team, with player interviews, game action, and behind-the-scenes access.
