As days get longer and spring is in full swing, with the optimism that Easter can bring. April starts with a day for fools and a spring break celebrated by the kids schools. Summer is coming, summer is near winter is behind us, as we transition to the best time of year.
Although my fervent following of baseball has lessened with the politization of professional sports and the dumbing down of the rules to appeal to a younger demographic. But it’s April and its opening day, how exciting, the pageantry, the tradition, the possibilities, every team is in first place, and every player is an All Star. New beginnings, fresh starts, new careers are starting while others are winding down. Opening day, game 1 of 162, from the completion of spring training, through the dog days of summer culminating in the fall classic, so it begins.
We all know the old cliché, as American as Baseball and Apple pie, that is not without a basis, baseball is entrenched in our society, football may now be Americas favorite spectator sport, but baseball is Americana. John Fogerty’s "Centerfield", “Well, I beat the drum and hold the phone, the sun came out today, we're born again, there's new grass on the field A-roundin' third and headed for home it's a brown-eyed handsome man anyone can understand the way I feel. Put me in, coach I'm ready to play today, look at me, I can be centerfield. Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” always rubbed me wrong when he says, “I had a friend who was a big baseball player back in high school, he could throw that “speedball” by you, make you look like a fool. Speedball makes me think of John Belushi, he should have said Fast Ball, that makes me think of Nolan Ryan. But I guess Springsteen was playing guitar in high school not baseball.
There are too many classic Hollywood movies that celebrate baseball’s passion and highlight its struggles, they show the humanity and vulnerability of the ball players and play on out love of the game. The redemption of Roy Hobbs in “The Natural”, the fellowship, and tragedy of Robert DeNiro's character in “Bang the Drum Slowly”, the resilience of Crash Davis and the coming of age of Nuke Laloosh in “Bull Durham”, the dreams and innocence of “Sandlot”, the historical tribute the women of the AAGPBL in “A League of Their Own” and the bond of a father and son through baseball in “A Field of Dreams”, plus so many more.
Baseball infiltrates our lives and our culture. Baseball bound us together as a nation when President Bush threw out the first pitch at the Yankees game following 9/11, it showed our strength and resilience to the world. Baseball is the greatest combination of team and individual success; it is overcoming the failure of the individual to pull together as a team to achieve victory. The life lessons in baseball are everywhere, having the confidence to bat again after striking out once or twice or more, because you done it thousands of times and know that there is a fine line between failure and success and that you are just a hit away from turning it around. Bad hops happen, bloopers fall, line drives get caught and homers hook foul. A good hitter fails seven out of ten times, the 3 successes come while facing the best pitchers and beating the best fielders.
It's April, It’s Baseball, It’s like déjà vu all over again.
Let me know what you think.
