A baseball in your hand feels so natural that it seems one
was born with it sitting there. It is a timeless art that carries the memories
from our childhood to the golden gate. A life filled with mom and dad, my brothers
and sisters, cousins and friends.
Having played some form of organized ball into my mid 40’s I
can remember playing the game with my dad when I was in my 20’s, he as the DH, in
his 60’s. He passed at 93.He was a Red Sox fan and me, well a proud Yankee fan , spending time with him watching
the two teams compete was one of my
favorite memories. If I live that long the one thing I know is that I’ll still
love the game of baseball and the memories we shared.
As we approach the end of another season we are seeing the
end of the career of someone truly special, one of the greatest in the history
of the game. Derek Jeter, he is a throwback, a player that would have fit in
any era and received the same respect. The biggest regret is that I may not
ever see another player come along that special , there may never be another
one so special. There are a few players today that have the chance if they can
manage to play another 15 years at their current level but as we have seen,
that is asking a lot from anyone.
Baseball’s second season starts soon and it appears neither
the Red Sox’s nor the Yankees will be there. Odd as that may seem there are
some interesting possibilities ahead. We could see an all LA World Series. Or even
more interesting a World Series featuring Don Mattingly (Finally) and Buck
Showalter (Finally), Mattingly retired after a fabulous career and Showalter,
manager the only time Mattingly made the play-offs, was fired at the end of the
season. Joe Torre replaced him and the rest is as they say , history.
Whatever the baseball Gods have in store for us I’m ready.
Let’s play ball!
