Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Ready for Baseball, Ready for Spring


"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” Rogers Hornsby


"Waiting to take the field" (hachmom)

Sunday afternoon, once Easter dinner was over, the countdown began.  "Three more hours, mom" he announced. "Two more hours." He was counting down to the moment when the first Major League Baseball game of the season would air on TV.   We didn't care who was playing (Texas vs Houston, if there must be an official record). We cared only that it was the first official ballgame we had seen since last October. 

The Boy has been chomping at the bit for some baseball for weeks now.  Once pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, and  his own high school practices started he walked around the house with a baseball in his hand, and took mock swings in the middle of the living room.  He endlessly discoursed on what he would do this season, what the Indians would do this season, and for a change of topic, what the rest of the major league teams would do this season.

I mind this not a bit, because I am ready for baseball too. Also I am ready for spring.  Its been a rather dreary winter here in  Ohio, without even a really good snowstorm to shut things down for a day or two.  The only "snow day" the kids had  was in October, when the outer edge of Hurricane Sandy took out a lot of trees and power lines and closed schools for a day.  So what better sign of impending spring than the resumption of baseball?

Well, in Ohio, the answer is maybe. In 2007 the Indians home opener was memorably snowed out in the 5th inning. At the time their pitcher was throwing a no hitter, partly because the ball could not be seen through the snow.


credit: cleveland.com

But this year we seem to be stumbling upon signs of Spring.  The snow has melted.  The days have been sunny, if unseasonably cool.  The daffodils are trying to come up. And the Boy's team played their first game this Monday night.  They lost, the score being a lot to nothing, but the Boy still felt good when he got home.  He had played some baseball.

This year's season will be especially poignant because the Boy is a senior, and it is probably the last competitive baseball he will get to play. He has been doing this since he was 5.

 photos by hachmom



But for now, at least for the Boy and his mother, baseball has arrived and with it Spring, giving us reason to celebrate, something green to believe in.



"I need to think something lasts forever, and it might as well be that state of being that is a game; it might as well be that, in a green field, in the sun. "
 A. Bartlett Giamatti



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24 comments:

  1. Ah, the Boy and his baseball. Love it! I love the pictures. Number 4, huh? Interesting. ;)

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    1. He wanted 13 for his hero Omar Vizquel, but they didn't have it. I don't remember how he wound up with 4. I'll have to ask him.

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  2. Yay for baseball season! Sounds like something special you share with your son. Enjoy once this weather warms up for us!

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    1. Baseball is indeed a bond between us. It is supposed to warm up some tomorrow.

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  3. It's so great that he has a pasttime he's so passionate about. I hope he never loses that fervor for baseball even after high school.

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    1. It has really helped him keep on track in school since he has to keep his grades up to be academically eligible

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  4. This got to me, not because I'm a baseball fan, but because my last competitive wrestling match was also as a high school senior.

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    1. So you understand that melencholy feeling that this season brings to us. Thais for stopping
      By Joe.

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  5. Yes, the weather is still chilly here in Ohio, but the Indians were able to win a snow-free opening game. I hope that gave you and the Boy something to cheer about.

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    1. The Tribe played great last night and we bitty enjoyed every minute.

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  6. From the time baseball season ends, my husband counts the days down till pitchers and catchers report, and then counts down to opening day. I am so glad I love baseball too, otherwise it would be difficult :) We're headed to a ballgame this weekend!

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    1. My husband isn't a sports fan so I started early with the Boy. When he was a toddler he would sit and stare at baseball on tv. There's a minor league club here in town and we would go to games. But he goes even more deeply than I ever did.

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  7. Great baseball quotes, Meg! Ready for baseball here too. My local Washington Nationals are off to a great start. My other nearby team, Baltimore Orioles, off to a good start too. My dad loved baseball, and I picked up the bug from him. Good luck to your son’s team too!

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    1. The Boy I's a great student of baseball history and knows the sad saga of DC ball clubs so we have a warm spot for the Nationals. We have never been to Camden Yards, but we did go to the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore.

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  8. I love baseball two! Both of my boys play. I just wish it were a bit warmer - the games this week have been freezing!

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    1. I get lucky this week both his games are road games so the kids get taken by bus. We have metal bleachers and they are cold in April.

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  9. I'm so excited for baseball season, too! I love the pictures of you son...reminds me of my brothers and all their little league years.

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    1. Thank you. His ballplaying years have been extensively documented, probably more than he woukd like.

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  10. I'm not a sports fan at all, but I can relate to the excitement of getting back to something you love, for me it's performing.

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    1. Thanks Tomekha, i played sports as a kid, but wasnt very good, I also took up performing intheatre. The idea of having agift and taking it onto some sort of stage is pretty universal I think.
      E

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  11. I don't get baseball, but I love when other people love things and can help me get it. This made me long for spring and pitcher's mounds. :)

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    1. Thank you Kirsten for understanding our love of the game (and spring) and sharing it with us.

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  12. I spent countless hours at the little league ballfield watching my little brothers play. Summer wasn't summer without a ball and a glove around our house. I was so good calling pitches that my parents thought I should umpire, but I was too intimidated by angry coaches and parents.

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    1. I thought about umpiring in high school too, but I was also easily intimidated. I spent a lot of time watching baseball with my dad as a kid. I regret he didnt live to see his grandson play.

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