A short, Sunday supplement piece. And a beautiful paean to a quintessentially American slice of life. ~ pinto
Take Me Out to the Ball GameSpring is here, and Americans' thoughts turn — once again — to baseball
By Roger RosenblattWhen the game was over, I stood with a bunch of kids outside Yankee Stadium, waiting to get autographs. The Indians’ Bob Feller burst through the door, a losing-pitcher’s scowl on his face, and plowed through us, muttering his irritation. Offended, I reported it to my dad, who suggested I write a letter of complaint to the New York Times. I was 10, and it was 1951. I can’t recall if the Times ran my letter, or even if I mailed it. But the incident suggests what an innocent time that was, long before big money divided fans from the stars, when players were expected to sign baseballs and chat with kids in the street.
Yet even now, when a so-so reliever costs $5 million and the stadium serves quiche, baseball retains most of its innocence. Here we are, older and jaded, and still giddy as the season begins. Nothing in American life excites us this way. Of course, my “we” and “us” assume everyone loves the game, but why not? Baseball is America. It’s competitive. It’s green. And it’s such a well-made invention.
Like the Constitution, baseball has balances between institutional order and individual passion. For over a century, its rules have suffered no major changes. Sixty feet and six inches is still sixty feet and six inches; the bat is the bat; the ball, the ball.
Yet within that sturdy sameness, the individual goes to town. Robinson Cano flips the ball to first like a 95-mph fastball. Mariano Rivera locates his cutter anywhere he wants to. The Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen runs like a sprinter, and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols hits everything a country mile. Baseball is the only major sport in which the person, not the ball, does the scoring. Huge Adam Dunn of the White Sox has batted a career .250, while Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki (170 pounds?) has batted .331. And every feat seems all the more amazing because it is accomplished within the confines of an orderly universe.
http://www.parade.com/news/views/guest/110327-take-me-out-to-the-ball-game.html
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