The Game I Loved

Normally, I write about Christianity or the Church but this writing is about my love of baseball when I was young. As a kid, I had a love for sports, all sports which used a ball of any kind. But as I began to play ball on the playground or in school, I realized that baseball was the game I loved the most. When I was in elementary school, we would start a game in the morning, before classes started, and continue it throughout the day at each recess. We had some crazy games with some crazy rules.

Since we didn't always have enough players for all fields, we would close off right or left field, depending on whether a righthander or a lefthander was hitting. We also played first and back to home instead of all the bases. Those are still good memories after all these years. At home, I had an old wooden bat that was splintered and chipped so, I used it for hitting rocks out into the field. I would play a game in my head as I hit those rocks out into the farmers field. My parents rented a farmhouse which was located on a farm and the driveway led into a dirt and shale road which led to the outbuildings and the fields. I would use those pieces of shale rock to hit with that splintered bat.

I was about 8 years old when I discovered my love of baseball; I began playing it at school and continued with my private games at home. That was many, many years ago and there were not many organized leagues for kids my age so, my playing experience was mostly at school during our recess times. When I was 11, a team was formed in a league which included teams from the surrounding farming communities and towns. I begged my mom and dad to allow me to try out. They had previous plans for us to be somewhere else that evening and said I would not be able to go to tryouts. They told me my chances of making the team were very slim and it also would consist of boys up to 13 or 14 years old.

I finally persuaded them to allow me to stay at a friends house that night so I could go to tryouts. I was one of the younger boys there and I was also one of the last given an opportunity to tryout. I was allowed to hit, which went alright and then they stuck me in right field and hit fly balls to me. My parents couldn't afford to buy me an expensive glove so I was using one my dad had discovered behind the seat of an old truck he had bought. It was older than the truck; it was a 3 fingered glove which was very popular way back in the 1930s and maybe even farther back. I liked the glove and had it with me in right field that evening. The first fly ball hit to my that evening was a high and arching type and I got under it, stuck my left hand up and made the catch. It was then that I realized how much doubt some of those adults had in me. But not after I made the catch since they were all telling me what a nice catch it was.

I made that team and started in right field in our first game. But my playground experience was no match for a 14 year old pitcher I was facing. He caught me looking at a knee high fastball, which I thought was low, and I was called out on strikes. That was the end of my playing time for that season. I showed up for every game but never played again. Half way through that season, we moved so it didn't matter. I would have the opportunity the next year to play with kids my age in an organized Little League program and excel.

There was something really exciting about seeing that brand new baseball lying on the pitchers mound before the start of each game. The baseballs we had to play with at the park or someone's backyard were well worn. They weren't white anymore, they were more of a brownish color from all the use and sometimes there were even a couple of stitches popped. I can also remember using balls which the cover had come off and we used electrical tape to wrap it so we could keep playing. So, when I would see that brand new baseball, it was a feeling I really can't explain.

Baseball history was another thing I was totally enthused by. My dad bought me an Encyclopedia of Baseball book when I was about 10 and I read it cover to cover (I now have the site saved in my favorites). I knew everything there was to know about baseball records for every category of the game. I read that book over and over again. It was my Bible at age 10 (of course, I now read the real Bible and know the difference). I was intrigued by Babe Ruth's 60 home run season and his career home run record. At heart, I was a Pittsburgh Pirate fan since we lived about 50 miles from Pittsburgh but I had a keen interest in the New York Yankees. I was amazed by some of those teams in the early 1960s as well as the historical teams of the 1920s.

Mantle and Maris and their home run chase in 1961 when Maris hit 61 home runs was all the rage in baseball and certainly had my interest. As much as I followed the Pirate teams and their World Series win over the Yanks in 1960, I was also a big follower of those Yankee players. Mantle, Maris, Berra, Skowron and Ford. There were others but those pop up right away. As a 10 year old, I thought these guys were the most important people in the world.

Like all people, kids grow up. But as I grew, I never lost my love of Baseball. It's a kid's game played by adults and as events unfolded in my life, it was clear I would never have the opportunity to play professionally. My parents death led me to enlist in the military at 17 and take an all expenses paid trip to Southeast Asia for a year and 2 years of my life living with the Marines. Being older now and with about 35 years as a Christian and time in ministry for our Lord, I have no regrets or bitter feelings about my past or missed chances to play baseball. God has a plan for each of our lives and mine wasn't to play ball. It was, instead, to play for Team Jesus.

Over the years, the game of Major League Baseball has changed. In the early 1970s, the American League instituted the designated hitter rule. I hated it then and I still hate hit. There are some pretty good hitting pitchers in the National League and hitting pitchers play a big part of the game which the American League misses out on, not to mention game strategy for managers. Today, we have replay. I don't mind replay for home run calls but when it was expanded, I hated it. I do hate replay. I don't mind umpires talking over a call but forget the replay. The human element on the umpires is part of the game (and that includes Angel Hernandez). I saw a game the other day where a ball was hit off the foul pole and ricocheted into the seats. It was more liked it skinned the pole and slid into the seats and it was so clear on replay but the umps took almost 5 minutes to review it. I am pretty much a baseball purist and I am not a fan of any kind of fantasy leagues. And now, an Independent league, which is an affiliate of MLB, is experimenting with the automated strike zone and stealing first base. Computerized balls and strikes, no thank you.

And, I also dislike all the saber metrics; what I mean is, if teams want to use that in house, fine but keep it out of game analysis. I loathe the terms, launch angle and exit speed. Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron are both in the Hall of Fame but neither got there because of their concern of launch angle or exit speed. I know, the game has changed and younger fans like this stuff and that's fine for them but some of this stuff is meaningless. The stat, WAR/P (wins above replacement player) is, without a doubt, the dumbest stat I have ever heard of. The replacement player, in 99% of the time if fictitious, he doesn't exist. And finally, the shift. I know it is a defensive strategy and it works very well but it has taken a lot of defensive gems away from the game. If a lefty is hitting and the infield is all on the second base side of the diamond, one of those guys is going to stop the ball. I only wish more hitters would learn to hit the ball opposite of the shift. I know that can be easier said than done but if it was done more often, it would certainly weaken the shift. I know not everyone agrees and my intent is not to throw this in the face of those who like it.

Well, there is so much more I could write concerning my childhood love for this game but then it would be a book. That might be an idea. Regardless, I still love Baseball but I also love Football and Hockey. I have always been a sports fan and I have learned over my many years how to prioritize this in my life. The biggest insult I have ever received was on a Super Bowl Sunday when I showed up for church service that evening. I was in California and the game was in progress and the pastor looked at me and said, "I didn't expect to see you here tonight." My first thought was, "This guy knows my commitment to Jesus and he just asked said that?" I responded by telling him some things are more important than football and that goes for all sports.

Regardless of how the game is played today, I will always have my childhood memories of it. I will never forget from my first Little League game to my last game as a coach. As kids, we weren't concerned with launch angle and exit speed. I saw the ball and I it the ball. That was hitting. You see it and you hit it and I always hit on a line and I always hit for a high batting average. See the ball, hit the ball. That's baseball fundamentals. You have to know, not think, you are better than the pitcher's best pitch. And finally, have a love for the game. With a love for the game, a kid will always excel and that carries through the rest of life. Baseball is like anything else. You get out of it what you put into it and it starts as a kid, in most cases.