#BaseballStory December 22

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In December 2025, many of us will take part in the 30-Day Rewind Coach4aday Challenge. Each day, we’ll rewind, review, reflect or—in my case—re-blog one of my nearly 4,000 posts that highlight experiences shaping us into better versions of ourselves. If you don’t have a blog, your reflections can come from a journal or even a meaningful memory tied to something learned, a goal reached, or a personal effort to improve. These daily habits of looking back will serve as a powerful springboard for taking on a new and ambitious challenge in 2026. Today my rewind is on a BASEBALL STORY told to me by the late Earl Smith.

Today’s rewind comes from a post published on February 3, 2018. It covers a great baseball story told to me by Earl Smith. If you go to that link it going to cover a lot of topics including East Carolina University, Campbell, Bo Jackson’s College Baseball Coach, Umpiring, North Carolina Negro Baseball League, and the Baltimore Chop.

Rewind-30 Day Challenge Guidelines

As with previous challenges, participants are encouraged to adapt the guidelines to fit their own circumstances. If you can, commit to sharing a rewind, review, or reflection during the month of December

1. Rewind, review, or reflect on a past effort to improve, a lesson you learned, or a goal you accomplished.
2. Share with a challenge partner if you have one.
3. Join the conversation by posting on social media with the hashtag #Coach4adayChallenge

December 22nd-Baseball Story Involving Umpiring

Earl Smith was a fantastic storyteller and also quite the historian on events in Eastern North Carolina. He would talk about the great semi-pro baseball that was being played in North Carolina up until the early 1960’s. He mentioned that one team that had talent was the Raleigh Tigers. The Tigers would play teams in Eastern NC from Tarboro and Rocky Mount, NC. His story involves the Raleigh Tigers and the Rocky Mount Black Swans.