We were playing kickball, it must have been 1982

We were ten years old, the sky was bright and blue

And I was terrified, cause I couldn't catch or throw or kick

I was trembling, close to crying, and you must have noticed it cause you said

Go on and pitch, you're the best one we've got

And I blinked and was confused but then you winked and I caught on

You were being a good friend, trying to save me from The terror of the outfield

And I left that summer, moved a thousand miles away

But we stayed close thru letters, it's like we hardly missed a day

And all through high school, you remained my closest friend

We put our lives inside those envelopes, the paper and the pen

When did it happen, how'd we finally drift apart

Your letters, they stopped coming, but you were stamped upon my heart

And I'd remember, how you rescued me, and gave me shelter from the outfield

Years turn into decades, it happens much too fast

Like a red rubber kickball flying past

And when that call came, I was deep inside December

It was gray and it was raining, this is all I remember

There was something about a rope, a garage and how they found you

Oh but I am fairly certain holy light was all around you

My oldest friend how'd things ever get so bad?

Life was too much for your pure heart, and I'm trying to understand

But oh I regret it, how in the end I failed, Couldn't save you from the outfield

It's almost summer, and I'm thinking now of you

The lilacs all are blooming and the sky is back to blue

And I write your mother, and it feels good again

Getting back to stamps and envelopes, the paper and the pen

And I still think of kickball, how you saved my ass that day

If I could get a message to you, I'd demand another play

Or does the rulebook say we all must face alone The terror of the outfield