I was just thinkin'...
by bkrhater on Mar 6, 2009 10:58 AM PST
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Print'bout baseball, and why I love it.
(Actually, I've been thinkin' about it, what with Spring's sunshine piercing through the wintery clouds of late. And my little guy, all of 3 1/2 years: how I want to bestow upon him the visceral lure of baseball.)
I love winter; don’t get me wrong. I love the cold, the rain (‘specially here in the Valley, where it’s always welcome), and the frost. The older I get (free of the school-dictates-the-cadence-of-the-year mentality), the more family means to me, and winter means family. I love seeing my wife’s rosy cheeks. I love the food, too. And watching Luke (my son) open presents. But by the time the end of February and early March get here, I’m ready for spring. I’m ready for the smell of the almond blooms pulsing through the air with the gentle spring breeze, the lush green foothills, and the clear skies. And I’m ready for baseball.
Sure, baseball is the purest of American sports (in terms of outcome, at least). And the most engrained. And it has the Giants and Dodgers and Yankees and Red Sox and Cubs; pillars, all, of American heritage. It has The Shot, the Goat, The Curse, and The Babe. It has Sidd Finch and Bull Durham and The Sandlot.
Guys who can throw a ball ninety-five miles-per-hour…and guys who can hit the same ball with a four-inch wide stick!
And memories. Memories of my first Dodgers-Giants game at the ‘Stick. McGwire charging the mound toward Neil Allen. Bonds homering in Game 3 of the ’02 NLCS. Convincing my wife to go the Angels-Yankees game by telling her that Derek Jeter once dated Mariah Carey. Standing at the gates of Shea after an hour-long subway ride from Manhattan to see my Giants play the Mets, only to find out the game was postponed because of rain…in June. Watching Big Mac shake hands with Tony Gwynn behind the cage at the Murph; didn’t know then how symbolic that was. Getting Matt Williams’ autograph next to the Giants dugout and thinking he looked really old.
But there’s something more to it: something visceral; something holistic. Baseball means something. Baseball means fresh-cut grass, the ever-present smell of spring. It means sunny skies. It means lazy days, watching warm-ups of slow toss. It means the past; listening to a broadcast on the radio, with visions of fireworks and evening breeze and hot dogs. And garlic fries. And grilled onions. And a cold one in a “souvenir” cup. It’s red-white-and-blue bunting and summer breeze easing across your neck as you hold your hat in your hand for the Star Spangled Banner. And fathers and sons. It means optimism: hope wrapped in bleached rawhide and red stitching.
Always, always, the scent of fresh-cut grass. And watching Luke take in his first-ever game; kid doesn’t know it now, but he’ll never forget the Grizzlies vs. the 51's.
And so it is: the game, The Game, means so much more than the game.
This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.
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Fantastic
You just made my day. And by the way, your son has a great name, of course, since we share it.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
Damn
I thought your name was Phoebe.
Has anyone seen Phoebe?
bringing you moral turpitude since 1963
I just read a short article from ’08 about the best minor league parks, and it mentioned Rec. Park (is it still called that?) It was about the fan dugout. I never knew it existed; they still use it?
http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=2909747
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
as far as I know, yeah. but it's a lot of $$ IIRC
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Mar 9, 2009 7:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Great stuff. Thanks.
''I love this cornbread so much, I want to take it behind a middle school, and get it pregnant.''
- Fred Lewis?
by Uribe nee Gonzalez on Mar 6, 2009 12:09 PM PST reply actions
I remeber my first game
I went to an angels game because its the closest to our house. I have no idea who they played or how it went, but i remember demanding to eat one of everything at the ballpark and having to be carried to the bathroom.
Isn’t it funny how we remember the little insignifican details and not the so called “important” ones. I hope your son has a wonderful relationship with baseball, the way we all do. That is a beautiful post.
Why does Sabean always look constipated?
Excellent read. Thank you.
Sergio Romo will gladly hand you a bench to sit on / GIANTSPACE™ / Adopted brother of the AnVil
NEW MEMBERS PLEASE NOTE
This is how you become a valued member of McCovey Chronicles when you first join. Enjoyable, well-thought out post that has good use of grammar and punctuation. These sorts of things will get you very far on this site.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
What about fragments?
Because you had one in your reply. Sentence fragment: no verb. Grammar, punctuation, and key words, then?
bringing you moral turpitude since 1963
Because.
They make my comments more dramatic. And sound more thought-provoking. Stuff like that. See what I mean? Key words—the best. No? Sick of it yet? I’m not. Shazam.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Mar 6, 2009 5:26 PM PST up reply actions
What about...
…Naomi?
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 6, 2009 5:57 PM PST up reply actions
I got it, Vic. My wife had to explain it to me, but I got it. Her younger sister was just the right age for that, and my wife always quotes it.
Sergio Romo: striking out professional hitters since 2005.
I still say that sometimes.
Nobody ever knows what I’m talking about – even friends who would’ve been the right age to be watching the Electric Company back then.
Adoptive father to the All-Father. Does that make me the All-Grandfather?
Truth - I'd forgotten the source myself , so thanks!
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 15, 2009 5:49 PM PDT up reply actions
I think people who write “lazily” while being serious (not as a joke) should be banned. No crap like “i tink evr1 shuld b 4 da giants”.
Its not so much lazy as it is juvenile. It would take a lot of effort from me to type like your example.
Giant Dirtbags: Brian Anderson, Todd Jennings, Steve Hammond, John Bowker
Don't F with the Affeldt
by Giant among Angels on Mar 15, 2009 7:19 PM PDT up reply actions
R U srs?
Shouldn’t it be function before form?
Don’t misunderstand me , I believe in proper diction and grammar…but we ought to be able to toy with it as we see fit without being reprimanded – unless we take it to ridiculous/repetitive extremes.
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 15, 2009 11:09 PM PDT up reply actions
That is the problem taking to the extreme. A lot kids type like this where it gives everyone else a headache trying to read what they’ve typed.
Yes , kids.
And women who refuse to grow up. i say this being one who dabbles in online dating…if I see Princespeak (“I Would Die 4U”) , that’s it.
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 16, 2009 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions
AND GET OFF MY LAWN!
FIRE BRIAN SABEAN... UNLESS HE KEEPS DRAFTING WELL. .. AND SIGNS UNDERRATED PLAYERS LIKE AFFELDT OR PHELPS. .. OR ALRIGHT WHO'S PLAYING WITH THE ALIEN MIND-SWITCHING RAY?
-------
PARPG- Indy post-apocalyptic roleplaying game currently in early planning stages.
i remember almost catching a homerun that trevor wilson hit
i remember being in the left center bleachers and hearing the drunk guy next to me yelling “alimony, alimony deion” at deion sanders when he was with the reds
i remember getting a group of drunk dodger fans kicked out for abusive cursing
i remember being put on the jumbotron and being cajoled to kiss the very beautiful but platonic friend i brought to the game (i did it anyway)
i remember telling my friends i was taking that i hoped i didnt get stuck behind a crazy hat-pin lady, and thats exactly what happened
i remember having my first drink of schnapps at a giants tailgate
good times
i also remember the greatest niners game i ever attended, in 94 when we beat the cowboys at candlestick and we were up 21 to nuthin in the first quarter…ive never been in a crowd that was more electric in my life
[Brayen] of sabean, your semi- conscious potato trip across "to gold winches" democratic pavement will bring Communist pride to the orange and black democratic perfection. your [randay] of Johnson – spy for the Russian Mafia. warn yourselves they warn themselves! you will purchase smirnoff the vodka
by Headhunter Rollins on Mar 6, 2009 1:15 PM PST reply actions
I remember moving into the 3rd base box seats and heckling the HELL out of Chipper Jones the week that the story broke about him having the child out-of-wedlock with the gal from Hooters. I never used any curse words – just letting him know that he “[wasn’t] no gentleman”, etc..etc..etc…
The game went into extra innings and I kept it up. A younger security guy came and told me to shut up or else I was getting kicked out. I asked why he said “You Know”. A few minutes later an older-usher (sweater crew) came by and advised me that it would be fine for me to continue “cheering my team” and “respectfully razzing the opposition”. I said, “Just as long as I don’t curse, right?” He smiled, patted me on the shoulder and said “Yes.”
I was given carte-blanche permission to yell at Chipper by the Giants staff!
Needless to say, Chipper drove in the go-ahead run in the 12th and smiled at me when he got to 3rd.
I was young and foolish – I don’t heckle so much anymore.
(other than getting into the front row bleachers in Phoenix when Jose Cruz Jr. was with the Dodgers against the D-backs and repeatedly screaming: “MIAMI! MIAMI! YOU FOOL! TWO HANDS! WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT TWO HANDS! MIAMI!!” – I may have been drunk)
Great post!
Charlie Hayes ate my homework
by glenallen hill's waterpipe on Mar 6, 2009 2:08 PM PST reply actions
"I may have been drunk"
glenallen hill’s waterpipe
Subpoena Hank Aaron: Drag his butt before congress and let him state, under penalty of perjury, that he never took amphetamines.
Lemme guess...
Anti-conformist? You probably liked Rage Against the Machine in, like, ’91, before they sold out, right?
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
I think The Battle of Los Angeles is a terrific album.
by Lars The Wanderer on Mar 6, 2009 10:33 PM PST up reply actions
Because one of 'em has dreadlocks, so you know they're legit...
my mouth was only slightly agape when I saw Zach De La Rocha in a Lexus SUV flying around the corner at Hollywood Blvd./Vermont Ave. about ten years ago.
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
Bee-Tee-Dubya...
I agree. But I only like it because they were mainstream by then.
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
Preview is your friend.
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 16, 2009 10:11 PM PDT up reply actions
If you plan on posting here you should expect to be critiqued. Some criticism may be issued in a constructive manner and other not so much. It’s been polite so far.
Ohhh....
so I should have replied: “Gee, thanks, mister, for the unconstructive, happiness-killing remark about a completely benign subject”?
Got it. Thanks.
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
You probably liked Rage Against the Machine in, like, ’91, before they sold out, right?
So you mean before they started being terrible and popular.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Mar 7, 2009 7:52 PM PST up reply actions
COMMIE!
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Mar 6, 2009 5:27 PM PST up reply actions
I went to the second-to-last Giants game ever at Candlestick in 1999. It was against the Dodgers, and the Giants were something like 0-8 in Giants-Dodgers games I’d been to previously. That night, though, they pulled it out. Knocked Kevin Brown out of the game and cruised to victory.
They gave out a commemorative Croix de Candlestick to everyone in attendance, but the Baseball Gods smiled on Candlestick that night – not only was it not frigid or windy, it was actually warm and very nice.
I left after the game was over, and just for a moment, as I walking up the aisle, I turned around and looked at the field one last time. I’d been going to games there for 19 years, since I was a baby, and I had so many memories there, from Dave Dravecky’s comeback to Will Clark’s first grand slam to Mike Schmidt’s last game and on and on. And with all those memories, no matter how ugly and unpleasant a park it may have been, I still loved the place. I cried like a little wussy girly-man I am thinking of it.
If baseball can make me cry over a hellhole like Candlestick Park, it’s gotta be an awfully special game.
Never has a poster been more correct in the history of the internet. Ever! - ResDog on yours truly
That was a great game.
Bonds taking Kevin Brown deep in the first inning – very, very sweet.
IIRC – that was the last evening game and they brought Lasorda out with the jacket that had his named spelled “LaDorfda” or something like that.
I went to the last game as well, cried like a baby.
Charlie Hayes ate my homework
by glenallen hill's waterpipe on Mar 6, 2009 3:44 PM PST up reply actions
hey bkrhater- not bad, but if you’re going to write fluffy bart giamatti prose, consider changing your hostile handle. it’s confusing. are you a lover or a fighter? and Dusty was a great Giant, by the way.
What's confusing...
is when the Shift+ keys appears to be missing from keyboards.
Just so I get this straight: I’m not supposed to have divergent views on different aspects of the game? Huh.
Stupid is as Ruben Rivera does...
Que?
Was Ruben Rivera’s nickname Dusty, because you certainly cannot be saying Dusty Baker was a “great Giant”?
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Mar 6, 2009 5:29 PM PST up reply actions
at second glance, you are definitely multi-dimensional (and have the right to be). not too many have the confidence to write a gushy love poem to baseball with a edgy name like baker hater and the well-roundedness to pull a rage against the machine reference out of nowhere (caps not included). I salute you.
And so it is: the bakerhater, The bakerhater, means so much more than the bakerhater.
Living on the least coast, I get a lot of razzing about Barry and stupid questions like, “So, you think he did steroids? What do you think about that?” As if I’m personally responsible for his apologia.
I always answer by telling them my favorite Bonds memory: in 2003, in his first game back from bereavement leave while attending to his dying father, the Giants faced the Braves. The game goes into extra innings, and sure enough in the 10th, Bonds comes up. His father is dying. He’s tired. He hits a shot into the Cove. Giants win.
I saw Bonds hit a lot of home runs, but that one sticks out. Maybe it’s because I’ve always thought that it’s the most vivid example I know of it taking a little bit more than steroids to make someone into the best hitter of a generation. Every time I think about it, I get excited for baseball. It’s also a good conversation-stopper.
by williams.rutherford on Mar 6, 2009 4:52 PM PST reply actions
Every time I see these people
That guy in the upper left corner doesn’t clap. Why not?
Subpoena Hank Aaron: Drag his butt before congress and let him state, under penalty of perjury, that he never took amphetamines.
That was a great read. Thanks.
Adopted Giant: Clayton Tanner (unless someone tells me he's already been adopted)
by walkoff baltimore chop on Mar 6, 2009 5:43 PM PST reply actions
Meh. I like baseball because of its cold mathematical precision.
Fred Lewis can stand under my umbrella.
31 May 2007, 21:38 EST - the last time Matteh's career W-L wasn't below.500
We are at war with Los Angeles. We have always been at war with Los Angeles.
"Cornelius!"
OK if I adopt Randy Johnson?
"What kind of a stupid question is that?"
by victor frankenstein on Mar 16, 2009 10:14 PM PDT up reply actions
“It’s a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!”
Fred Lewis can stand under my umbrella.
31 May 2007, 21:38 EST - the last time Matteh's career W-L wasn't below.500
We are at war with Los Angeles. We have always been at war with Los Angeles.
by S.F. Giangst on Mar 17, 2009 4:44 AM PDT up reply actions
I thought it was a nice read. Much better than my first fanpost.
My first memory of a Giants game is when I yelled in my high, screechy little kid voice at Roger Cedeño, telling that he sucked repeatedly until he turned around. I almost crapped my pants that day.
Aaron King is still my homeboy... iffy mechanics and all
If Dustin Pedroia played in Seattle, not many people would be talking about him.
I used to get free tickets
back in the day when the Giants rewarded students who maintained a B average with tickets to their choice of 3 games. And I think calculating ERAs and BAs helped with my math skills. So in some small way, baseball helped make me what I am today… or at least kept me from a life of crime.
Great Post
Goosebumps. Baseball, so much more than a game.
My Opinions are just that...my own. They may not represent those of my employer, associates, friends, relatives, or even people sharing similar names.
http://nickengvall.wordpress.com
http://www.nicekicks.com
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