Watching MLB.com as my beloved Phillies scratched and clawed to a season ending victory last evening the memory tape rewound again and again as to how fortunate we are to be a nation of traditional baseball fans. In the mid 194o’s my grandfather sat next to me as the Phillies announcer read the ticker tape account of the games from Shibe Park in Philadelphia.. Legends were born with Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, later Mike Schmidt. TRADITION , honoring those who went before. Sixty five years later we locker room jocks originally from Central Pennsylvania are now feverishly tweeting about the upcoming playoffs. Amazing the continuity of loyalty which was planted in our psyches as a child.
45,000 screaming Brewer fans watched their long maligned heroes capture home field advantage in the playoffs yesterday.. A new TRADITION for a team playing in a 21st century park with Fielder and Braun potential Hall of Famers. Fans remember 20 years ago when the legacy let by Robin Yount brought home the bacon. The beat continues in brew city. Loyalty runs deep in Milwaukee and West Allis and on the banks of the Fox River.
Then there is the collapse of the Red Sox – What are Yastremzki and Ted Williams thinking? How could decades of pride and TRADITION crumble in September? Tears are streaming from the shadows of the Green Monster. Alas, Fenway park will shake again with cheering fans when spring comes in April.
The grainy pictures of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hitting balls into the seats in New York. Sandy Koufax and Bob Feller throwing hard strikes barely i to the naked eye. No matter where your loyalties lie, what your station in life, baseball binds us all together since the 1800’s.
And now it is October ( remember Reggie Jackson). Face book and Twitter are humming with good natured partisan discussions. We are joined together by the social media as never before. It used to be 4-5 guys at the local bar discussing who would win what. Now there are thousands joining in the chat.
We are reminded of that song from “ Fiddler on the Roof”. TRADITION. The game is now international. Players from Dominican Republic, South Korea, Japan, Venezuela , etc. Politics is a non factor –can he hit?
Anyone checking the nationality of the great Manny Rivera? – nah, the question is can anyone get a hit off him in the 9th with the bases loaded. It’s about wins and losses: Home Town Pride: and for Brewer fans – Bob Uecker and Uzinger Sausage.
The leaves are falling here in the Midwest.. and cases of Miller Lite are being consumed as we lustily cheer for our October heroes. While the politicians pontificate, procrastinate, and pander, the rest of us sit back and enjoy a true American treasure – Baseball TRADITION.
rlhassociates 