With the advent of Spring comes Baseball. The smell of the grass and the sounds of the game are still fresh. I cannot wait for it to start again.
In anticipation, lets enjoy the "
Things We Love About Baseball." Roger Mooney, of the
Bradenton Herald, provides a helpful list of 100 reasons why we are all fanatics.
1 Pitchers and catchers. The phrase is actually "pitchers and catchers report to spring training," but the first three words do the trick. It means another baseball season is beginning.
5 The Baseball Encyclopedia. It's hard to put down this 3,026-page tome. You look up Mickey Mantle's lifetime batting average, and the next thing you know, you're scanning the career numbers of Debs Garms.
6 Nicknames. Piano Legs Hickman. Pinky Higgins. The Fordham Flash. The Splendid Splinter. Stan the Man. Phenomenal Smith. The Reading Rifle. The Big Train. Joltin' Joe. The Iron Horse. The Say Hey Kid.
35 "If you build it . . ." Terence Mann summed it up in the movie "Field of Dreams" with this memorable speech: "Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: It's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Oh . . . people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
Yhea! It's Baseball Season!
Story Link:
Bradenton Herald:
Hat Tip:
Sports Collectors Daily:
