This past weekend I actually got to watch two innings of a BASEBALL game. Yes spring Training games are underway. I am thrilled. I admit the game that I watched (which was a late night rerun of a game played on Shabbat) was between the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. Cactus League. Neither are my favorite teams but I could feel the baseball magic reappear.
There is a magic to baseball. It is the precision and slow pace of the game that appeals to me. It is the strategy that most people miss in what kind of pitch to throw. How the batter will place the ball. The choice of the fielder. The sometimes subjective calls of the umpire behind the plate depending on the size of the box he draws in the air. All of these make baseball an antidote to the very destructive hectic pace that our lives run to in this 21st century.
So I welcome back baseball in my life. And look forward to the Beverly Hills Normans making their début next weekend as high school ball gets underway. There is an especial joy in cheering on one’s son and the boys he has played ball with through now many years. Some since they were little boys on Daddy Ball teams. That is the real joy. It brings tears to my eyes.
Thanks for baseball. It helps me to cope with the world.