Guest column
America's pastime, America's reality
Those who know me know I love baseball. I love the game for the excitement, the athleticism, the drama and the game-within-a-game it provides. I also love it for the lessons it teaches. I try to impress upon my two sons that baseball is often a metaphor for life. The similarities are striking, if you pay attention. In life and baseball: failure is a certainty you must embrace. You want to succeed as an individual, but also in the collective. Preparation is key, execution is essential. You can outperform the other guy and still lose. You can perform poorly and still succeed. The season is long; settle in and be consistent. The list seems boundless. The game also seems to reflect the heart of the American experience and our collective history – a history that started long before “our game” was invented.
I recently watched a documentary of the 1998 race for the single-season home run record, which Roger Maris held since 1961. You may remember, 1998 was a pivotal year for the MLB. The league was still reeling from a huge loss in popularity due to the player strike of 1994, which caused the World Series to be cancelled. Fans felt left out and many were turning away from the professional game. Enter Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. (for a couple months). Fans flocked to ballparks to watch those three hit a baseball obscene distances on a regular basis. It dominated news cycles and captured the attention of old and new fans alike. Major League Baseball loved it! It was like a one-year Golden Era of the game. But professional baseball had a secret. The years throughout the ‘90s until about 2010 were the “steroid era” of baseball. Those in the know ... knew. They knew it would leave a black eye on the game. They knew they should deal with it. In fact, they knew they would deal with it, but not in 1998. That year was about saving the game, not solving its problems.
Similarly, America had a problem, one of the great (greatest) black eyes in our collective history. The framers of our nation knew slavery was a problem. They knew we would have to reckon our collective and personal values. Thomas Jefferson described slavery, saying it was “like holding a wolf by the ears. You don’t like it, but you dare not let go.”
Our own struggle nearly destroyed us. The revolution was fought to establish us as a new nation, based on the ideals of a better life and freedom for all, even if that still was not a reality. They knew they should deal with it. In fact, they knew we would deal with it, but not in 1776. That struggle was about saving the nation, not solving its problems. Since then we have been trying live up to those ideals. We still continue to deal with the growing pains and birth pangs of that struggle. We’ve made great strides – greater strides than any other nation in the world, ever. Those that try to align all of the baseball records of years past find themselves chasing their tail. Ruth only played 151 games a year while Maris played 162. Maris played in an integrated game, Ruth didn’t. Josh Gibson never got the chance to play in the integrated game. McGwire and Bonds juiced. The ball is/was juiced (it’s gotta be, right?). The parks are smaller and purpose-built for baseball. Over the years, the mound has moved up, down and back. The fences aren’t even consistent. Now, if a ball so much as touches the ground, a new ball is brought in. Batters now wear body armor to the plate. And so on, and so on. You can’t rectify it all and make it come out clean, tidy and even, but you can try. The best, really, is to just move forward from here.
See? Just … like ... life.
I recently watched a documentary of the 1998 race for the single-season home run record, which Roger Maris held since 1961. You may remember, 1998 was a pivotal year for the MLB. The league was still reeling from a huge loss in popularity due to the player strike of 1994, which caused the World Series to be cancelled. Fans felt left out and many were turning away from the professional game. Enter Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. (for a couple months). Fans flocked to ballparks to watch those three hit a baseball obscene distances on a regular basis. It dominated news cycles and captured the attention of old and new fans alike. Major League Baseball loved it! It was like a one-year Golden Era of the game. But professional baseball had a secret. The years throughout the ‘90s until about 2010 were the “steroid era” of baseball. Those in the know ... knew. They knew it would leave a black eye on the game. They knew they should deal with it. In fact, they knew they would deal with it, but not in 1998. That year was about saving the game, not solving its problems.
Similarly, America had a problem, one of the great (greatest) black eyes in our collective history. The framers of our nation knew slavery was a problem. They knew we would have to reckon our collective and personal values. Thomas Jefferson described slavery, saying it was “like holding a wolf by the ears. You don’t like it, but you dare not let go.”
Our own struggle nearly destroyed us. The revolution was fought to establish us as a new nation, based on the ideals of a better life and freedom for all, even if that still was not a reality. They knew they should deal with it. In fact, they knew we would deal with it, but not in 1776. That struggle was about saving the nation, not solving its problems. Since then we have been trying live up to those ideals. We still continue to deal with the growing pains and birth pangs of that struggle. We’ve made great strides – greater strides than any other nation in the world, ever. Those that try to align all of the baseball records of years past find themselves chasing their tail. Ruth only played 151 games a year while Maris played 162. Maris played in an integrated game, Ruth didn’t. Josh Gibson never got the chance to play in the integrated game. McGwire and Bonds juiced. The ball is/was juiced (it’s gotta be, right?). The parks are smaller and purpose-built for baseball. Over the years, the mound has moved up, down and back. The fences aren’t even consistent. Now, if a ball so much as touches the ground, a new ball is brought in. Batters now wear body armor to the plate. And so on, and so on. You can’t rectify it all and make it come out clean, tidy and even, but you can try. The best, really, is to just move forward from here.
See? Just … like ... life.