More About Baseball from A to Z
Memories. They are as much a part of the America’s Pastime as hotdogs. I don’t think there is any other sport that connects us to our memories and our past as much as baseball. We remember our first baseball glove. Our first game. The first time we got that hard to get baseball card of our favorite player.
My first baseball glove was Rawlings Mel Stottlemyre model. I loved that glove. At night when it was time for bed, I took it with me and often fell asleep listening to the Detroit Tigers on the radio. The dulcet tones of Hall-Of-Fame Announcer Ernie Harwell were my nighttime lullaby on many a summer night.
I have a theory that baseball is popular because it is great theater. It is a sport that has been written about and celebrated, perhaps more than any other. All it takes is one visit to the ballpark and it is indelibly printed on our minds. The love of the game is passed from generation to generation. We seek comfort in knowing the winter is past and spring is here as soon as we hear the crack of the bat and the smack of the well thrown ball into a leather mitt.
My baseball memories are many. I remember seeing Mickey Mantle hit his last home run in Tiger Stadium. At the same park, I remember Al Oliver hitting a home run off the facing of the third deck that appeared to travel faster than the speed of light. I marveled in watching Alan Trammell slip easily to the right field side of second base to throw out Ricky Henderson by a step. I remember living in Virginia in 1984 when the Tigers won the World Series and hoping each night the atmosphere would cooperate and bring the WJR 760 AM signal to my radio.
Most of all I remember taking my son and daughter to their first baseball games. How they marveled at the sights and sounds and smells of the ballpark. I remember watching my son’s t-ball games and cheering wildly whenever his tiny bat connected with the ball. When I think of baseball, I think of memories.
That’s why I was thrilled to get a chance to write my very own baseball book. I become attached to all of my books and they are all labors of love. After all, if you aren’t doing something you love, what’s the point? But every time I sat down to write this book, the memories would come flooding back.
I hope it reminds you of some pleasant memories too.
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