Play Ball!

Pirates pitcher Bill "Bugs" Werle got Bill Nicholson to hit a high infield popup in front of the mound. As trained, he called for an infielder to make the play. "Eddie's got it! Eddie's got it!," he yelled.

Then, he watched the ball fall untouched as catcher Eddie Fitzgerald, first baseman Eddie Stevens and third baseman Eddie Bockman looked on.

It's that time of year again.  The baseball season has just started.  One of the most beautiful sounds to a baseball fan is the sharp crack made when a wooden bat squarely hits a baseball.

I played Little League and Babe Ruth League baseball as a kid, as well as softball as an adult.  The only 'home run' I ever hit was the little league variety.  As I recall it started with a slow infield grounder.  The third baseman threw the ball past the first baseman into right field.  After the right fielder chased down and retrieved the errant ball, he heaved it back to the infield where it eluded a couple of infielders and bounced into foul territory on the third base side.  I of course was running like blazes around the bases and crossed home plate with my 'home run.' 

I've attended a handful of major and minor league games, plus an old-timers' game, in my life.  Of all the home runs I witnessed, three stand out in my memory. 

The first happened at the very first big league game I attended at Milwaukee County Stadium in August 1982.  Brewers slugger "Storm'n" Gorman Thomas hit one in a losing effort. 

Another was at a game in Milwaukee in May 1994 when Seattle Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr hit one.  He hit 630 home runs in a 22-year career marred by injuries.  Without losing time to injuries, he might have passed Hank Aaron's career home run mark of 755.

The third home run I remember actually happened between the other two.  It was a major league old-timers' game at the old Mile High Stadium in Denver on June 15th 1991 (I still have the ticket stub).  43-year-old Dave Concepción, who had retired from baseball 3 years previously and wasn't regarded as a power hitter (101 total home runs in 19 seasons), hit one that night.  The ball landed in the left field bleachers just a few rows down from where I was sitting.  I was serving in the Air Force at the time at Lowry Air Base, Denver.  The organisers of the old-timers' game had given away some free tickets to members of the military and that's how I ended up being at the game.

Gorman Thomas

 

American essayist Gerald Early has been quoted as saying, "There are only three things that America will be remembered for 2000 years from now when they study this civilization: The Constitution, Jazz music, and Baseball. These are the 3 most beautiful things this culture's ever created.”

 

I think I'd have to agree.  I mean, there are many other great and beautiful things American culture has created - but these 3 are the really big ones.  As an American expatriate living in Poland, I've come to appreciate these things even more. 

 

Also, these 3 three things have made their mark on the wider world, including here in Poland.  The obvious one is jazz, which is popular worldwide.  There are some fine Polish jazz musicians - Thomasz Stańko and Michał Urbaniak come immediately to mind.  The US Constitution was a major influence on the short-lived Polish Constitution of 1791.  That constitution was a much needed reform of the Polish political system.  Unfortunately it came too late as tragically weakend Poland was soon swallowed up by her powerful neighbors. 

 

And baseball?  Amateur baseball teams have existed here since the 1960s.  On a visit to Poland on July 4, 1989, President George H. W. Bush met with some young Polish baseball players in Warsaw.  About 10 years ago I attended a couple of amateur league baseball games in the Katowice area.  I remember watching one game that ended when the pitcher picked off the runner at second base!  I've watched and listened to thousands of major league games and have never witnessed one of them ending that way.

 

 

And finally, this.  Baseball fans can be a long-suffering and patient lot.  The game can thrill you but it can also make you want to pull your hair out.  This is especially true if you're a loyal fan of a particular team.  My late uncle Wilfred was a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan.  This is a team that last appeared in the World Series in 1945 (remember that year?) and last actually won it in 1908.  The team has become synonymous with futility.  They lost 101 games last season. 

 

I've heard tons of Cubs jokes over the years.  Here's one example:

 

Well, at least the Chicago Cubs are trying. They installed a new pitching machine the other day. Unfortunately it beat them 4-1.