Note: I haven't updated this blog in awhile for a variety of reasons. But with baseball beginning, my goal is to post something every couple days. I've also asked Eric to add some posts of his own. I guess you could say he'll bring a National League perspective. Anyway, we'll see how long this lasts. Let us know what you think.
Opening Day
By Eric
The snow has melted, the trees are budding and the birds are chirping. Spring is in the air. That can only mean one thing: it’s baseball season. Every year as America wakes from its winter slumber and rubs the sleep from its eyes, players around the country break out their bats and gloves and gear up for another season.
I love everything about baseball. The sight of a homerun jumping from a bat and soaring toward the fence, an umpire punching out a hitter on a called third strike, an outfielder stretched out parallel to the ground for a diving catch. The smell of the field after a summer rainstorm, freshly popped popcorn at a little league concession stand, oil and leather from a newly broken-in glove. The sound of bat hitting ball square in the sweet spot, the pop of leather smacking leather on a crisp throw, the roar of the crowd whether there are 30 fans or 30,000.
The Great American Past Time will forever hold a special place in our public psyche; it’s engrained in us. From those seminal catches with Dad in the back yard to those moments of glory and despair in little league, baseball has played a prominent role in the growth and development of many of us, teaching us about competition, teamwork, and winning and losing. It has provided us with the highs that came with the clutch plays and the lows of the game ending strikeouts. For many of us, baseball is more than just a game, it’s a part of who we are and because of that we’ll always love it.
From the baseball card heroes of our youth to those trips to the game with Dad, the love of baseball transcends our own playing experiences; it is tied to Major League Baseball. The Big Leagues have always stood as the pinnacle of the sport, providing us with teams to root for and players to emulate. Those allegiances forged in childhood can tell you a lot about a person, running the gamut from the part of country they are from to their outlook on life.
Yankees fans project the cool confidence approaching cockiness that comes from winning 26 World Series titles, Cubs fans the often misguided, cautious optimism of “Wait ‘til next year,” and Phillies fans the expect-the-worst pessimism that comes along with losing 10,000 games. The personality of each team’s fans is as much a part of the game as peanuts and Cracker Jack, having evolved over the years to reflect each franchise’s history.
Major League Baseball, more than any other prominent American sport is rooted in its history. Whether it’s the larger-than-life legends of years gone by, the Green Monster at Fenway, or the ivy walls of Wrigley, baseball’s long and storied history casts a cool and welcome shadow over almost every aspect of the game. Nowhere is this more apparent than with baseball’s records. Try finding another a sport where even the casual fan can rattle off the precise statistics of a whole handful of records. Seven hundred fifty-five, 56 and 61* are just some of the many numbers that remain central to the game and its history. Only with baseball could people spend 30 years arguing about an asterisk.
Football may have surpassed baseball in popularity and soccer may dominate the international landscape, but baseball will forever stand as America’s Past Time. Baseball is more than a sport, it’s an institution. This year more than 75,000,000 fans will file through the turnstiles and into the stands at Major League ballparks across the country and more than 2,300,000 kids will play sanctioned little league (with millions more in unsanctioned leagues.) In today’s world of instant communication and constant connectivity, baseball still stands as a welcome respite from hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.
As we sit here on Opening Day looking ahead to another season with hope and optimism, let’s take a moment to reflect on all the things that make this game great. We have seven months and more than 2,500 games to argue about which team is the best and which players are earning their multimillion dollar contracts. Save the debate on mid-season trades and specter of steroids for another day. Opening Day is about the good things in baseball, the purity of the game. Today everyone is perfect.
So throw out the opening pitch and let’s get this season started. I for one can’t wait for another season of strikeouts and stolen bases, walk-off homers and diving catches, checked swings and double plays. Today spring officially arrives … its baseball season. In the immortal words of Ernie Banks, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two!”
The snow has melted, the trees are budding and the birds are chirping. Spring is in the air. That can only mean one thing: it’s baseball season. Every year as America wakes from its winter slumber and rubs the sleep from its eyes, players around the country break out their bats and gloves and gear up for another season.
I love everything about baseball. The sight of a homerun jumping from a bat and soaring toward the fence, an umpire punching out a hitter on a called third strike, an outfielder stretched out parallel to the ground for a diving catch. The smell of the field after a summer rainstorm, freshly popped popcorn at a little league concession stand, oil and leather from a newly broken-in glove. The sound of bat hitting ball square in the sweet spot, the pop of leather smacking leather on a crisp throw, the roar of the crowd whether there are 30 fans or 30,000.
The Great American Past Time will forever hold a special place in our public psyche; it’s engrained in us. From those seminal catches with Dad in the back yard to those moments of glory and despair in little league, baseball has played a prominent role in the growth and development of many of us, teaching us about competition, teamwork, and winning and losing. It has provided us with the highs that came with the clutch plays and the lows of the game ending strikeouts. For many of us, baseball is more than just a game, it’s a part of who we are and because of that we’ll always love it.
From the baseball card heroes of our youth to those trips to the game with Dad, the love of baseball transcends our own playing experiences; it is tied to Major League Baseball. The Big Leagues have always stood as the pinnacle of the sport, providing us with teams to root for and players to emulate. Those allegiances forged in childhood can tell you a lot about a person, running the gamut from the part of country they are from to their outlook on life.
Yankees fans project the cool confidence approaching cockiness that comes from winning 26 World Series titles, Cubs fans the often misguided, cautious optimism of “Wait ‘til next year,” and Phillies fans the expect-the-worst pessimism that comes along with losing 10,000 games. The personality of each team’s fans is as much a part of the game as peanuts and Cracker Jack, having evolved over the years to reflect each franchise’s history.
Major League Baseball, more than any other prominent American sport is rooted in its history. Whether it’s the larger-than-life legends of years gone by, the Green Monster at Fenway, or the ivy walls of Wrigley, baseball’s long and storied history casts a cool and welcome shadow over almost every aspect of the game. Nowhere is this more apparent than with baseball’s records. Try finding another a sport where even the casual fan can rattle off the precise statistics of a whole handful of records. Seven hundred fifty-five, 56 and 61* are just some of the many numbers that remain central to the game and its history. Only with baseball could people spend 30 years arguing about an asterisk.
Football may have surpassed baseball in popularity and soccer may dominate the international landscape, but baseball will forever stand as America’s Past Time. Baseball is more than a sport, it’s an institution. This year more than 75,000,000 fans will file through the turnstiles and into the stands at Major League ballparks across the country and more than 2,300,000 kids will play sanctioned little league (with millions more in unsanctioned leagues.) In today’s world of instant communication and constant connectivity, baseball still stands as a welcome respite from hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.
As we sit here on Opening Day looking ahead to another season with hope and optimism, let’s take a moment to reflect on all the things that make this game great. We have seven months and more than 2,500 games to argue about which team is the best and which players are earning their multimillion dollar contracts. Save the debate on mid-season trades and specter of steroids for another day. Opening Day is about the good things in baseball, the purity of the game. Today everyone is perfect.
So throw out the opening pitch and let’s get this season started. I for one can’t wait for another season of strikeouts and stolen bases, walk-off homers and diving catches, checked swings and double plays. Today spring officially arrives … its baseball season. In the immortal words of Ernie Banks, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two!”
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