Play Ball!
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Play Ball!
Some of the sweetest sounds you will ever hear—the crack of a bat, a player digging his spikes into the ground, trying to leg out an infield grounder and then, the pop of the first baseman’s glove with the umpire screaming “yer out!”
That is Mozart to me.
Today is opening day around the major leagues. As you are reading my post, hundreds of thousands of baseball fans, people of all ages and backgrounds, are getting ready to embark on one of the great traditions in the history of our country—going to a baseball game.
Put on the back burner are the stories about steroids and super-sized athletes who tried to win by any means necessary. Right next to them are articles about drugs, arrests and players showing up in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons.
Today, it’s all about “how’s your team gonna to do this year? Did the GM make the right moves in the off season? Will your star pitcher return to form? How about the new outfielder from AAA?”
I’ve been a fan of baseball for as long as I can remember. Growing up on Long Island, it was all about the New York Mets for me. I was only five when the Mets won it all in 1969, but I have wonderful memories of when they returned to the World Series in 1973 (only to lose to the Athletics & Reggie Jackson that year). It would be 13 long years until the Mets won it again in 1986. After every season, you would hear kids and grown ups alike saying “wait until next year. That’s when we’ll win it all.”
For some teams, the wait, the pain and the second-guessing has been much longer. Almost every fan of baseball, even the casual spectator, is familiar with Boston’s “Curse of the Bambino” or “The Billy Goat Curse” that was placed on the Chicago Cubs in 1908. Fortunately for the Red Sox, their curse was lifted in dramatic fashion when they won the World Series in 2004, then again in 2007. Yet, for the hapless Chicago Cubs, their woes continue.
But is this their year? Have the Cubs finally found the missing link that will bring their team together and help put 101 years of suffering behind them? Probably not, but don’t tell that to the sellout crowds of every home game at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
Today, hope springs eternal. It is the official start of “this year.” For all you fans that have been patiently waiting since last October, get out your old Rawlings glove, put on the well worn team baseball cap and get whatever lucky charms you need so that you’re ready when it’s the bottom of the 9th inning and your closer is trying to get the final out of a tight, one-run game with runners in scoring position. It’s time to play ball…
BATTER UP!
Play Ball - To learn more about this author, visit Brian Moran's Website.
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