CityView Magazine

50 | July/August 2019 F E A T U R E From Pine Tar to Esquire BY CHRISTOPHER D. FOSTER, ESQ | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY I t all started when my mother, Gaye Foster, took me shopping for new shorts at JC Penney at Cross Creek Mall. It was 1991. I was 13 years old and growing. I was also crazy about baseball. I'd recently made the baseball team at Hillcrest Junior High School as a 7th grader, a rarity, and I loved watching pros play the game, both on TV and here in Fayetteville, home then to the Fayetteville Generals, a minor league team affiliated with the Detroit Tigers. It was in my blood. My grandfather, Lloyd Foster, had been the announcer for the Fayetteville Highlanders, a minor league team that played in the city in the 1950s, and he took me to many Generals games. When we got to Penney's, I spotted a box inviting essays from anyone who wanted to be a batboy for the Fayetteville Generals. I told Mom to go ahead; I would meet up with her later. And I started writing. I wrote about baseball being the National Pastime and that it was as American as hot dogs and apple pie. I wrote about my grandfather taking me to Generals' games and about my love for the game. When I finally finished writing, I put my essay in the box and went to find my mother. Sometime later, I was in the dugout at a Hillcrest game when my father, Doug Foster, walked up. "Do you remember that essay you wrote about wanting to be a batboy?" he said. "Well, you won. Congratulations!" My heart literally skipped a beat as I knew I would get to "hang out" with young men who were doing what I dreamed of for myself – playing professional baseball. I smiled for days even though the contest turned out to be a mere publicity stunt. e team had already hired its regular batboys but it ran an ad on WFNC-AM congratulating the winners. e Generals had me come in for one game. ey gave me a tour, instructions and so

• Cover