Hey Guys,
Yesterday was opening day for the 2011 major league baseball season; and today at 4:00 the Red Sox open up their year in Texas against the Rangers.
I understand that not everyone is a fan of baseball; that some of you liken a 9-inning game to watching paint dry. Baseball is a slow moving game with moments of intense action sandwiched between long periods of nothingness. Granted, that for today’s younger generation, who have grown up in the information age and a world of instant satisfaction, baseball’s poetry, beauty, and grace is lost on them.
Baseball helped to write the history of the 20th century. During periods of national despair, of triumph, of racial strife, and great fears, there was baseball. Baseball is a microcosm of the American Experience, and I truly hope that those of you who do not appreciate the simply beauty of this game, can at some point in your life come see this game for what it really is... magic.
For me, baseball was one of the few things that brought me and my father together. My father was not the best of men nor the best of father’s… not by a long shot. But he would show up for my baseball games. He would miss thanksgiving, I wouldn’t see him at Christmas or birthdays, but he was there for baseball games. He took me to my first professional game and introduced me to Fenway Park. And when my father died, he was buried with a ball from a no-hitter I threw a few months before. At the 14-year old all-star state tournament, in my first at-bat after he died, I wrote his initials in the dirt next to the batter’s box, then I stepped to the plate and hit my only career home run. He was still there for baseball.
So turn a game on, relax and enjoy. There is no game like it in the world!
“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” ~Rogers Hornsby
- X
Thats a beautiful story, I wish I was passionate about the sport this way. I enjoy major league baseball games, but really only with the people I love. But little league is my favorite. I love watching my brother in the outfield, focused for the first time in his life. Or when the other boy tells his angry teammate a joke to cool him off. The third one kinda just plays in the dirt for most of it, but cheers them on when they're at bat. They play at home and I will play with them then, go to the field with my dad and stuff...and that stuff is the most enjoyable part of baseball.
ReplyDeleteFor me baseball is more than a sport, it is my life. I love baseball because it just helps me get away from my regular day life. I can step onto that field and suddenly all of my worries disappear. The bond I have formed with my teammates is like no other, and there is no other sport I could see creating a bond like this.
ReplyDeleteIt pains me to hear people say baseball is boring, or stupid, when in fact it is the most majestic game in the world. People who do not see baseball for what it truely is are really missing out. I myself have said that those who believe baseball is a stupid, boring sport are obviously not good at it, and could never do what it's athletes do.
I just want to say that that is a great story about your dad. It gave me chills. Baseball and softball have always been a big part of my life. I have played softball since I was five years old, and I also played for Pilgrim for the last two years. I also often watch the Red Sox on tv.
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