The Baseball Hall of Fame, much as I saw the Notre Dame locker room, tunnel, and field years ago, is understated simplicity......which is more than it needs. It draws you in with its substance, not its form. That is made obvious by the mere fact there isnt a four lane within a long shot of Cooperstown. Thank God this place was conceived long before our society lost its collective attention span and developed the compelling need to be satisfied instantaneously. No one in their right mind would put the Hall in Cooperstown today. Its miles from anywhere, tucked appropriately among the buildings on Main Street. I cant even imagine the parking problems during induction weekends. Yet it is all it needs to be. For three hours today, two ten year old kids played at Cooperstown. One had 40 years of absolute immersion in the history and rich tradition of the game, the other the pride of recalling trivial facts of a time that doesnt even exist in his memory, but bonds him with his dad for reasons neither of them really understand. Why is it important for a boy to know the Boston Red Sox have 50 years of regular left fielders in the Hall of Fame in the form of Teddy Ballgame, Yaz, and Jim Rice.....or to know the significance of the numbers 60 and 61 (not 66, 70 or 73), of 56, of 406, of 714 and 755 (but not whatever number the Bonds guy put up).....to have had a great grandfather who listened to Ruth and Gehrig on the radio, a grandfather who saw DiMaggio, Berra, Rizzuto, Mantle and Maris, a dad who grew up with Reggie, Thurman, Billy the manager, Donnie Baseball, and continued to root for Jeter, Posada, and Mariano as the boy began to become a fan in his own right and staked his claim to his generation of boyhood idols? To be perfectly honest, I havent the slightest of notions. But I do know that the time spent discovering the answers to those and other questions has been the greatest time of my life. And I know one more thing.....and I say this with all humility and gratefulness....there is no finer feeling than being with your son amongst all his idols, witnessing the moment we witnessed last night from one of them, and still being made to feel you are his greatest hero. I love my boy.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:26:30 +0000
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