The time had come. It was the day where I was to venture out of the comforts of my home and into the unpredictable future of the University of Oregon.
My parents were being strong, holding back the emotion of letting their eldest son go.
I looked over in our jam-packed garage and spotted my dad’s baseball glove. I brought it out, along with mine, and said rather softly, “Hey Dad, you wanna have a catch?”
With a simple nod he agreed and there we were. In the backyard of our home with my mom watching on with a smile. A big change was about to take place in our family, but at that moment, the future was put on hold while a father and his son evoked memories of the past.
Of the times where my dad and his friend would spend countless hours in the backyard in San Diego playing intense games of whiffle ball against their two six-year old sons.
Of the many nights spent at Jack Murphy Stadium watching our beloved San Diego Padres play.
Not many words were spoken between my dad and I during our 10-minute catch that day, but no words were necessary. The memories that filled our mind were enough.
In the purest sense of the word, this was our way of expressing love.
This “Field of Dreams”-type father-son bonding is one of the many reasons why baseball will always truly be America’s favorite pastime.
The great thing about baseball is that it has remained a significant part of American culture and life. No other sport can boast the rich history of baseball. A history full of stories so legendary that they seem fictional. It has always been a game where the impossible seems possible. The love of the game is a sensation that can’t even come close to being described in words.
The sad thing is, no matter how many people love the game, there seem to be equally as many people who just don’t understand it. Too slow they say. Too boring. Not enough action.
Fine, I respect your opinion. But the people who say that are missing the point. Baseball has been around for some 160 years and will continue to be around for 160 more. The future of the game is in its ability to captivate the young players who will carry this game in their hearts long after they stop playing.
It is a perfect symbol for the American culture because it goes beyond the simple sport of it all. It delves deep into the heart of each and every person who lets it in and has the amazing ability to open up a childlike passion in an 80-year-old that a 10-year-old can understand.
But so often people don’t let it in. They complain about summers because basketball season is over and football season seems so far away. But that’s just the problem with the United States today — it’s too hectic. Always hustling and bustling around with no apparent destination.
Which for me has always been the biggest appeal to baseball. It forces an easy-going pace on you and makes you wait nine innings for that delicious moment when, “with Jimmy safe at second, and Flynn a-huggin’ third, the mighty Casey at long last, advances to the bat.”
And sure, as in the poem “Casey at the Bat,” sometimes there may not be joy in Mudville because Mighty Casey has struck out. But what is perhaps the greatest thing of all about baseball is that there is always a tomorrow, always a different day to start anew.
I will leave you with a favorite quote of mine from former baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who passed away in 1989. A quote that uniquely identifies what it is about the game that leaves people enchanted.
“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”