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That's Life: Crack of the Bat Heralds SpringBy Phyllis McGuire - April 02, 2008
iBerkshires Columnist
Geese journeying north, maple trees budding, streams flowing freely after throwing off the last remnants of blankets of ice, are signs of spring. But for baseball enthusiasts, spring does not begin until the opening day of baseball season.
Of the 162 Major League Baseball games regularly scheduled each year, the first one is among the most eagerly anticipated, according to the experts.
An umpire bellowing "batter up" or "play ball," is sweet music to the ears of baseball fans, whether they root for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Mets, play on a Little League team or spout instructions from their home as armchair managers.
At baseball parks, spectators, wearing sweat shirts or T-shirts and caps inscribed with their favorite team's logo, squeal in delight when a player on that team whacks a white round ball with a bat, catapulting it over the fence.
And whether those fans sit in the bleachers or in a private box, a frankfurter enjoyed with friends tastes better than Beef Wellington served at a plush restaurant.
But woe to weary parents who, after 12 innings fail to produce a winner, drag their children from the ball park and then hear the crowd roar. The children will never let their parents forget that they missed the thrill of watching their team score the winning run.
"It was your fault that we were in the parking lot when it happened," the children complain.
What is more exciting at a ball park than a batter hitting a home run that breaks a tie score, or an outfielder — running backwards — catching a ball that seemed to be headed for the heavens?
This year Mets' fans will say goodbye to Shea Stadium, which will be torn down at the end of the season and replaced with a new home for the Mets called Citi Field — CitiBank is investing millions of dollars toward the cost of constructing the new stadium.
Since both the Yankee and the Mets organizations are erecting new stadiums to be open in 2009, those New York rivals are pitted against each other in a competition in which the first to finish building their new ballpark will be the winner.
Mets fans may purchase bricks to be used in the construction of a Citi Field fan walk. At a price of from $195 to $395, depending on the size, bricks will be engraved with a message chosen by the buyers who will receive, free of charge, a replica of the brick.
My daughter Jennifer bought a brick at Christmastime to please her son Nicholas, who has inherited his mother's love of the Mets and baseball in general.
Jennifer was only a toddler the first time she watched the Mets play at Shea Stadium — a 20-minute drive from our home in Queens, where we resided until Jennifer was 21.
Over the years, she has returned to Shea Stadium time and again, remaining loyal to her beloved Mets whether they were breathing down the neck of the team in first place or experiencing a dismal season in the cellar.
But Jennifer is not content to just watch baseball games and, after being a valued player on her high school and college softball teams, she began answering to the call "play ball," as a member of an adult amateur league.
Because Nicholas, 13, is now on his high school baseball team and Jennifer still plays in an adult league, they sometimes are forced to do the unthinkable: not be present at each other's games.
Now in homes across America, baseball gloves and bats will be resurrected from top shelves of closets where they were stored throughout the winter.
Parents will introduce tikes to professional baseball, taking them to a major-league game. Many a dream is born in a ballpark as children envision themselves in a baseball uniform, running the bases.
But before any such dream could possibly come to fruition, children must learn to play the game we know as "the national pastime."
And to that end, fathers and mothers buy baseball equipment for novice players who then attempt to soften their new baseball mitt by putting it under the mattress on which they sleep. Manufactures of baseball equipment recommend playing catch often to break in a new mitt.
Keeping promises made to their children, mothers and fathers sacrifice the leisure time they would have used to follow a hobby on weekends. Instead, they toss a ball back and forth to their tikes in the back yard or a neighborhood park.
For a little boy standing in the batter's box for the first time, the crack of a bat is an especially welcome sound, dispelling his fear that his turn at bat would end without him even connecting with the ball.
Eyes wide, the boy appears surprised when he does hit the ball. From the sidelines, his mother yells, "Run, run to first base."
The best advice, in my humble opinion, parents can give to their aspiring baseball champions is "Do your best, have fun, and be a good sport — not a sore loser." Is it not the most anyone should expect of youngsters? |
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