Despite the wheelchair and the special allowances needed to let him hit and play the field, Jack Arnold has become, in the words of his coach Rob Harrington, one of the guys.
LONGMEADOW – In his first year of little league, Jack Arnold has gained the reputation as a great teammate and one of those guys who gives it his all on the field.
And now the 9-year-old Longmeadow resident is known as something else: All Star.
Jack was chosen to represent his team, the AAA Indians, in Monday’s Longmeadow Little League All-Star Game. He led off the game and played in the outfield.
What makes Arnold’s story different from any of the other members of either All Star team is that Jack was born with a form of cerebral palsy called Kernicterus that requires him to use a wheel chair.
Midway through his first season, despite the wheelchair and the special allowances needed to let him hit and play the field, Jack has become, in the words of his coach Rob Harrington, one of the guys.
“The best part of it is when I look over in the dug out, and he’s being as much of a troublemaker as any of the 9- and 10-year-olds,” Harrington said. “He’s pulling at guys shirts and poking people in the back, and they’re all having fun. It’s great to be a part of.”
Jack said he was excited to be chosen for the team.
A right-handed hitter, he said his favorite part of the game is batting.
Baseball, he said, is his favorite sport “because you can work hard.”
Leading off the game Monday at Strople Field, he was greeted with polite applause as his name was read over the loud speaker. His first at-bat as an All Star ended with an infield ground out, and the applause continued until he get back into the dugout.
Harrington and Jack’s father, Michael Arnold, each said the team and the entire league have gone to great lengths to welcome Jack and treat him like any other player.
Before the game as Jack waited on the sidelines to begin warming up, a coach from another team walked by and said “hey ‘Jack the ripper.’ How’s it going?”
Michael Arnold said that he and his wife, Jaimee Arnold, believed from early on that they would continue to expose Jack to different experiences as he was growing up regardless of his disabilities.
Each said they would adapt and modify conditions where necessary, but Jack’s disability was not going to stop him to participating in anything that he enjoys.
And Jack really likes baseball.
“Oh, he loves it,” Jaimee Arnold said. “He loves the sport and the opportunity to be on the field with his friends on a team and being competitive.”
She said he played T-ball for two years, but she and her husband had reservations about allowing him to play in games with live pitching. She said they did not sign him up to play last year, and Jack was miserable. So much so that before last season was halfway over, he was able to extract from his parents a promise that they would let him play this year.
“From the second or third week of last season until the sign ups, he was saying ‘You better sign me up.’”
To play with other 9-year-olds, the teams agree to special conditions for Jack. The biggest is that he does not face the opposing pitcher.
Instead, Harrington his coach will lob a ball from about halfway between the mound and home plate. If Jack makes contact, his father wheels him down the line toward first base. “I’m his engine,” Michael Arnold said.
If he makes it safely, a pinch runner will come in for him, but if he’s out, he’s out.
On defense, he plays outfield and his father goes onto the field with him, again acting as his engine. If the ball is hit to him, he still has to either catch it or pick it up and throw it to the cut-off man
“In the field, we don’t put someone in a place where they will fail or get hurt,” Harrington said. That goes for Jack or anyone else. For now, putting him in the outfield makes the most sense, and although Jack has asked about playing an infield position, the coach is so far reluctant because of safety reasons.
“Jack is all over me about playing shortstop – just like any other kid,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Um, maybe next game.’”
All-Star appearances are decided in house by the players, not the coaches or any league officials. The players are given ballots and can vote for who they think should represent their team.
The Indians players voted for Jack.
“Jack wasn’t the top vote getter, but he did get enough to be here,” Harrington said. “That shows me there are enough parents around here who are doing a good job with their kids and the kids understand.”
Michael Arnold said his son’s selection to the All-Star team says as much about Jack as it does about his teammates.
“These kids get it,” he said.
“All his teammates accept Jack as Jack,” he said. “If you look in the dugout, they’re all chewing gum and throwing sunflower seeds at each other. They are so welcoming of Jack and treat him like any other friend.”