ONE BASE AT A TIME
How I Survived PTSD and Found My Field of Dreams
In the summer of 1981, David Mellor was just a baseball-crazed kid, a star high school pitcher dreaming of someday taking the mound in Fenway Park for his beloved Boston Red Sox. That dream was derailed in a McDonald’s parking lot when he was hit by a racing car, thrown into the air and pinned to a wall. His knee was severely damaged; his hopes of becoming a Major League pitcher were destroyed. Yet, David did reach the Major Leagues–as a groundskeeper. An expert, to be exact. He’s the Senior Director of Grounds for the Boston Red Sox and has spent 35 seasons caring for some of the greenest lawns in the nation: ballparks used by the California Angels, San Francisco Giants, Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers. He’s especially known for his innovative and elaborate mowing patterns on turf. But there’s more to this story. While still dealing with the devastating physical and psychological injuries from the accident, David was struck by a car again, this time in the outfield of Milwaukee’s County Stadium while overhauling the field for the Brewers.  Years of debilitating anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks followed, but he never gave up. In fact, David considers himself one of the luckiest people in the world, living by the old baseball saying, “one base at a time.” Every time the jackpot rises over $100 million, he even buys a lottery ticket because the statistics of winning are greater than those of being hit by two different cars in two different cities in one lifetime.  This is definitely someone you want to spend time with!