Sunday, September 12, 2004
Baseball
I know, I know. It seems over the last few years that baseball has been the most greedy, seemingly, of all sports, with the strikes, and the labor disagreements.
But I love baseball. I didn’t when I was younger, but I do now. There are lots of things to point to that make it a grand thing: the history, the tradition, it’s great heroes ... its great legends (The Babe, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the BlackSox). But those are not enough to justify it. Football has a lot of the same things, as well as basketball, and they are, justifiably, just as much American creations. They do not justify loving the game over any other game.
However ...
There is a reason to love the game that goes beyond these things.
Bob Costas almost got it right when he talked about the fact that, even though it is easy to forget it, baseball is a beautiful thing.
Almost, Bob.
Indulge me a moment.
I heard of a sociology professor who, once, asked his students, “How long have you lived?� He, then, qualified it by saying that he did not mean how long you had been alive, but how long have you actually lived ... and then he shared an anecdote about himself and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building.
That is what baseball is about ... living.
You go to the park ... get your refreshments, sit in “your� seats. The green field spreads out in front of you. Get comfortable... greet those around you. You sing the national anthem (badly) with everyone else in the park, and you hear the last two words of the national anthem shouted out by the umpire .... “PLAY BALL!!!�
Then the game begins.
And what is game about? Is it about runs? Balls or strikes? Labor disagreements?
No.
It is about moments that you “live� ... moments to savor.
The pitcher has finished warming up, he’s ready. So, is the batter. The batter is in the box. The pitcher starts his delivery. At this point, anything could happen. The batter could hit it out of the park, he could swing and miss, he could not swing and because the pitch is outside of the strike zone, he could get hit by the ball, the batter could ... anything could happen!
What is baseball about?
It’s about history, and stats, its about tradition, its about community, it’s about hot dogs and peanuts, it’s about moments of blinding speed, and moments of motionless stare down between pitcher and batter ... it’s about taking the most life has to offer in each and every moment no matter how little action it offers to the eye, and savoring each scent, sound, smell, and sight.
Baseball, when it gets down to it, is about living. Truly living each moment of life. Americans, traditionally, have understood that. In the 1860's, it was a game of “blinding speed� the pace of life of those times. Now, it is a game of leisure. The long season that other sports try to emulate. It is about living each moment, over the long haul, as if it is truly worth living to the full.
Baseball is about taking the emotion of the moment and fully embracing it, ... savoring it. Life is too short not to do so.
But I love baseball. I didn’t when I was younger, but I do now. There are lots of things to point to that make it a grand thing: the history, the tradition, it’s great heroes ... its great legends (The Babe, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the BlackSox). But those are not enough to justify it. Football has a lot of the same things, as well as basketball, and they are, justifiably, just as much American creations. They do not justify loving the game over any other game.
However ...
There is a reason to love the game that goes beyond these things.
Bob Costas almost got it right when he talked about the fact that, even though it is easy to forget it, baseball is a beautiful thing.
Almost, Bob.
Indulge me a moment.
I heard of a sociology professor who, once, asked his students, “How long have you lived?� He, then, qualified it by saying that he did not mean how long you had been alive, but how long have you actually lived ... and then he shared an anecdote about himself and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building.
That is what baseball is about ... living.
You go to the park ... get your refreshments, sit in “your� seats. The green field spreads out in front of you. Get comfortable... greet those around you. You sing the national anthem (badly) with everyone else in the park, and you hear the last two words of the national anthem shouted out by the umpire .... “PLAY BALL!!!�
Then the game begins.
And what is game about? Is it about runs? Balls or strikes? Labor disagreements?
No.
It is about moments that you “live� ... moments to savor.
The pitcher has finished warming up, he’s ready. So, is the batter. The batter is in the box. The pitcher starts his delivery. At this point, anything could happen. The batter could hit it out of the park, he could swing and miss, he could not swing and because the pitch is outside of the strike zone, he could get hit by the ball, the batter could ... anything could happen!
What is baseball about?
It’s about history, and stats, its about tradition, its about community, it’s about hot dogs and peanuts, it’s about moments of blinding speed, and moments of motionless stare down between pitcher and batter ... it’s about taking the most life has to offer in each and every moment no matter how little action it offers to the eye, and savoring each scent, sound, smell, and sight.
Baseball, when it gets down to it, is about living. Truly living each moment of life. Americans, traditionally, have understood that. In the 1860's, it was a game of “blinding speed� the pace of life of those times. Now, it is a game of leisure. The long season that other sports try to emulate. It is about living each moment, over the long haul, as if it is truly worth living to the full.
Baseball is about taking the emotion of the moment and fully embracing it, ... savoring it. Life is too short not to do so.
