04/04/08
I believe it was Walt Whitman who said, “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game – the American game.”
Before you get even slightly impressed by the fact that I quoted poetry, you should know I heard the quote on the movie “Bull Durham”, which was broadcast during WGN’s Super Sweet Baseball Week the other night.
First off, props to WGN for building some excitement for the MLB’s opening day games. Movies like “The Rookie” really do make me enjoy watching a game during the hot summer evenings just a little bit more.
The opening day games have come and gone, and America’s pastime is once again in full swing.
The optimism is present once again. Every fan believes his or her team has a chance. After the Rockies shocking performance last year, you might think anything is possible. In truth, it is.
Colorado really showed me something last year. Despite always enjoying the game, the fact that some teams have a much larger amount of money invested in their players than others made things look grim for me and others rooting for small-market teams. Then “Rocktober” came to be and the lesser-known team seemed invincible. Sure, they lost steam in the World Series and got knocked around by the Red Sox, but just the fact that they got that far made things more interesting.
It’s nice to see baseball up and rolling after dealing with all the conflict during the off-season. The healing process really has begun.
I guess there was truly no doubt in my mind that baseball wouldn’t be overly hindered by the steroid allegations, even if some of the game’s highest profile players were involved.
Baseball is an institution of survival.
The United States brought some techniques together from foreign games such as cricket and made a sport it could call its own.
Independence is a part of America’s history in every aspect, and this includes sports, especially baseball.
The game has been around longer than any in the United States and has no intention of leaving. Baseball’s roots are almost as deep as the country itself.
Other sports have come and gone popularity-wise, but baseball just keeps trudging along, and many people respect it for that.
Sports like soccer are a huge hit overseas, and people complain that America is not as intrigued by it.
They don’t realize that baseball is woven deep into the nation. It just seems obvious that our stubborn society would stick with the game created by its own people.
I’ve known people who have listened every summer night to the game for more than three decades.
The team they rooted for never had a realistic chance, and they didn’t even know a whole lot about the team itself each year.
But the game was on over the radio almost religiously each season.
It’s like a habit such as brushing one’s teeth each day. It is ingrained in the culture.
Baseball simply is America, and I hope people never forget.