The thing about playing third base is, you’ve got to be as quick as a cat. You’ve got to be able to catch a ball ricocheting off the infield like a bullet, then, without hesitation, sling it all the way to first base in time to beat the runner. To do it well isn't easy.

To do it with one arm should be impossible. Yet Jimmy Ruckert does it routinely during nighttime adult softball games at the City Park quad , St. Patrick’s field and anywhere lights are shining down on dirt diamonds across New Orleans.

It’s an amazing sight. Ruckert snags a hard grounder in his gloved right hand and instantaneously slaps his mitt under his left armpit. He then somehow grabs the ball out of the glove without bobbling it and zaps it to first as fast as pretty much anybody else.

It all happens in the blin

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