April 10, 2001
I have a bad feeling that you won't get this update till later. Bruce's connection doesn't seem to want to work and there probably won't be much time for him to look at it when he gets up in 45 minutes or so. Ah well, you'll read it eventually, I suppose.
Today is Opening Day of baseball season here in San Diego, and my group is going to the game. Unfortunately, tickets were purchased before I was even an idea in my boss's head, so I won't be going. Well... actually, someone backed out yesterday, so I could go if I wanted to, but right now I feel I have too much work to do to take that much time off . I'd planned to register my car this afternoon, but that's going to have to wait too, I'm afraid.
But what I wanted to talk about is baseball. (That'll save some of you a few more minutes' worth of reading. ;) Baseball is my game. When I lived here before, I always had mini-season tickets to the Padres (two nights a week) and have gone to literally hundreds of games at San Diego Stadium.... baseball and football, for that matter.
Before I first started seriously following baseball, I thought many of the same things other people do - it's too slow, it's not exciting, it's not as good as football / hockey / whatever. But then I went to a few games and was totally hooked. Back in the late 70's / early 80's, there was nothing like sitting in the sun, eating a hot dog, catching up on all the news, and watching batting practice. The smell of the freshly-mown grass, the sun spilling down on my shoulders, and the soft warm breezes idling their way through the stadium were all part of the magic for me.
As I started following the game more and more closely, I found other qualities to appreciate in it. I was (and still am) fascinated by the idea that you can pick any day in say 1920, and find out exactly what happened at all the games that were played. Right down to the number of pitches thrown. This is a very precise game, with exacting statistics that go back well over a hundred years. The statistics in other sports (like football and basketball) are extensive, but have not been kept nearly so meticulously over nearly as many years. It's hard to explain, and it certainly doesn't make me love football any less. It's just one of those aspects of baseball that appeals to me.
The other thing about baseball is that it's the only major sport played without a clock. A game can take 2 hours or 2 days. This symmetry appeals to my sense of fairness. Each team gets an equal number of chances at the plate, no matter what the other team is doing, so no one can "run out the clock" - a sports abomination if ever there was one, in my opinion. (I once watched a college basketball game where one team ran out the clock for five full minutes. I was so disgusted, I gave up watching college basketball completely.)
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy other sports as well. But there's a special place in my heart for the Boys of Summer and their game. I know a lot of people will never really understand. But that's ok. I don't really understand a lot of things in this world. The sights, sounds, smells, and lore of baseball are not for everyone. But no matter how long I live or how far I go between games, I know that it will always exist in its own little corner of my soul.
Play ball!!
