Baseball as Religion

BASEBALL AS RELIGION



Some have theistic faiths.  Some believe in natural phenomena as
the basis for the spiritual paths they choose to follow.  Some
people change faiths at points in their lives when they feel they have
found a truer calling, answer, or path.



As stated in the prior post --which,
by the way, got more reaction, blog page hits, e-mail, phone calls, and
discussion than any prior post in the history of this blog!-- I am not one to follow the rules and regs or rituals of any religion.



So comes the question, from many quarters, all of whom (which?) seem to
think that there just must be an answer to this quesry, and who cannot
imagine that I could not hang my hat on some more ordered sense of
faith or religion:  just exactly what is my religious sense of
self, the path I follow? 



In a number of discussions, including one about many more heady and (to me) important topics, the question keeps arising: what is/are important to me?



And what keeps coming up among the most important things in my
life?  There are just a few items, when it all boils down to the
nitty gritty.



1. My family -- that would include my kids, my parents, some relatives
that might be referred to as extended family, and Susan, my Significant
Other.  In my way of looking at things, Significant Other
qualifies at family.  What could be more important than family?

 

2. My Friends -- there's a small, core group of people who are very important to me.  Their well-being is important to me.



3. Baseball.  The Yankees, to be specific, and the game in
general.  I love the baseball season, the events of the
off-season, the game, the nuance and drama of each and very play, the
strategy, all of it.  Even the business and minutia of the 
game and of Major League Baseball is important to me.



4. The comes health.  I'm a man in my 50's, so there are a number
of issues of more than passing concern.  Diabetic issues, knee
problems, weight, and so forth. 



5.  And then comes work.  Work has a way of occupying the
majority of one's life, right up there with sleep.  So one must
find a comfortable way to spend one's workday, just as one does in
selecting  just how and on what they will spend their sleep time.



The bottom line here is that Baseball ranks as important to me, as an
aspect of my life and interest and focus, as just about anyting
else.  Recently a group of professionals involved in a
project  (in which I am involved) was trying to schedule a two-day
meeting for October.  Some people voiced problems, citing
conflicts with other professional meetings.  I noted that the
meeting woul dbe taking place during the World Series, and I would be
distracted, and not at all available in the evenings.  This evoked
some chuckles.  I stood my ground, and noted that my watching
Baseball was as important to me as taking a day for religious reason
might be for others, and by all means as crucual from my point of view
as when others cited conflicting professional meetings.



Finally I said, out loud and to all listening: "Some
people have the High Holy Days.  My religion is baseball. 
And I take watching the Playoffs and the World Series very
seriously.  That's how important it is to me."



Some may have scoffed, but I meant it.  Fortunately for me, it was agreed to move the meeting to a November date.



MICKEY MANTLE'S BIRTHDAY



Today would have been Mickey Mantle's 73rd birthday.  The
Mick.  Number 7.  Among the greatest Yankees of all time, and
the first of the Yankee greats to catch my eye.  I was lucky as a
child to see The Mick, Yogi, Elston Howard, and other Yankee greats of
the 1950s and 60's (yeah, and every decade since, of course!), 
But The Mick was something special.  That incredible grace in the
field, those massive home runs, that power swing from either side of
the plate.



Another time I'll post a very funny story about meeting The Mick when I
was a kid, outside Yankee Stadium after a day game.  Wow, what a
different time that was, I was maybe ten years old, went with a
friend.  We took the subway to The Bronx to take in the
game.  Two pre-teen kids on the subway by ourselves, going from
one borough to another to The Bronx to catch a Yankee game . . . not
something one would expect to see in this day and age!



But that's another story for another time.



THE CURSE LIVES



Not only is it Mickey Mantle's birthday, but tonight is Game Seven of
the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.  Boston, to
their credit, has battled back from down three games to none. 
Congratulations, Red Sox, for showing such mettle and fighting back
under such pressure.



But the curse [1] lives.  And it [2] shall continue.  It even has a website [3]!



As I type and post this blog entry, the game is a little less than an
hour away.  My phone has been ringing all day: Yankee fans asking
what I think and opining on how they think the Bronx Bombers will make
it happen.  red Sox fans calling to gloat, not realizing that
there is still a deciding game
to be played tonight.  Others, not aligned with the Yaks or the
Red Sox, just calling to see if I am nervous, or if I've gotten any
sleep lately.  True fact: I've been finding it difficult to get to
sleep after these tense and emotional games.  And I have been
working with a radio by my desk, listening to the Sports Talk stations
blabber all day about the Yanks.



Tomorrow morning the Yanks will awaken, and they will go about the
business of preparing for another World Series.  I predict the
Yanks will meet St. Louis, and beat the Cardinals in seven games. 
It will be a thrilling series, full of drama and excitement.  Long
games, all sorts of surprizes.



And, of course, the collapse of the Red Sox will be forgotten by all but their fans, who live for such stuff.



Go Yanks!