{"id":2384,"date":"2012-04-07T20:47:18","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T03:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/?p=2384"},"modified":"2012-04-07T22:21:30","modified_gmt":"2012-04-08T05:21:30","slug":"for-love-of-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/for-love-of-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"For Love of the Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBaseball is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Think about that for a while.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought about that this week. As I sat on the couch, snuggling with the draft picks of the 2030 season<\/a>. The ballgame was on. The 2012 Major League Baseball season is upon us.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there are sights, smells, sounds that take you back \u2013 there are memories in those sensory melodies. And the one that never fails to make me smile is the smell of freshly cut grass, the sound of cleats on the concrete, and ultimately the sight as the boys of summer take the field.<\/p>\n

I love baseball. I was raised with America\u2019s pastime. Of the game Robert Frost<\/a> said, \u201cPoets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things. Substitute \u201cwriters\u201d for \u201cpoets\u201d and perhaps that\u2019s why I\u2019ve found my place.<\/p>\n

Well, that and I have a thing for left-handed pitchers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Dodger girl, raised to bleed Dodger Blue. My grandmother, mother and aunt are the two generations above me with a love for the boys in blue. (Once they got the heck out of dodge anyway \u2013 leaving Ebbets Field for the sunny shores of LA. We\u2019re a family of California girls here. My brother is a Cincinnati Reds fan<\/a>. We\u2019re not sure where that particular affliction came from.)<\/p>\n

When the muppets were born on May 28, significantly sooner than their Aug. 24 due date, GrammaJ smiled brightly. \u201cThey\u2019ll be ok!\u201d she proclaimed. \u201cWes Parker was No. 28<\/a>. It\u2019s my lucky number. It\u2019s a sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

AuntJ\u2019s true Dodger love was Steve Garvey<\/a>. She stalked him throughout her formative junior high years (complete with a scathing letter to the editor when the Los Angeles Daily News dare publish an unflattering article about Mr. Clean.)<\/p>\n

At one point, AuntJ was with us in the San Bernardino Mountains when we noticed Vin Scully shopping at Jenson\u2019s supermarket. She bolted from the car, dragging my brother through the store as she chased the acclaimed broadcaster down the aisles.<\/p>\n

A scant few years later, AuntJ, Parker<\/a> and I settled in for a dinner at Disneyand \u2013 when who should we see but Tommy Lasorda sitting next to me. J was so giddy and effusive with her praise about his years at the helm that Parker (not a baseball guy) had to excuse himself from the table.<\/p>\n

My own left-handed pitcher was raised an Oakland Athletics fan. I\u2019ve since adopted them as my Northern California team. (They\u2019re in different leagues and it\u2019s not 1988 people; don\u2019t judge me.)<\/p>\n

And so it was the A\u2019s (currently performing a spot-on rendition of the 1989 movie Major League<\/a>) that my boys and I watched as they kicked off the new baseball season. Not typically allowed to watch TV, Search was riveted by the movement of athletes running to catch the ball, throw the ball or hit the ball. Destroy was running around throwing things. At least the things thrown were balls? (Let\u2019s work on that left-handed curve, shall we son?)<\/p>\n

Me: Baseball. Can you say baseball?
\nSearch: No.
\nDestroy: OOT BA!
\nMe: No sweetie, that\u2019s football. Say BASEball.
\nSearch: No.
\nDestroy: <Flings soccer ball across the room.><\/p>\n

\u201cThe one constant, through all the years, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

My family loves baseball. I love baseball. My family is a little nuts. I am a little crazy. I won\u2019t deny the potential correlation.<\/p>\n

So play ball. For the love of the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBaseball is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Think about that for a while.\u201d I thought about that this week. As … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[15,394],"tags":[56,784,785,788,787,786],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-Cs","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4242,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/play-ball-kinda\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":0},"title":"Play Ball (Kinda)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0","date":"March 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The one constant through all the years, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past. It reminds of us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Baseball-Cleats_01-18-15-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2750,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/a-baseball-game-is-simply-a-nervous-breakdown-divided-into-nine-innings\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":1},"title":"Baseball Is Simply A Nervous Breakdown Divided Into Nine Innings","date":"August 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base. ~Dave Barry (on the perils of motherhood.) The muppets have been learning the concept of t-ball over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3267,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/3-innings-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":2},"title":"3 Innings In","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun is out in full force. It\u2019s 80 degrees outside; the backyard is blizarding with wisteria petals. The neighborhood is perfumed by the scent of gardenias. Baseball is on TV. A rousing amalgamation of t-ball\/basketball\/soccer\/curling is underway just outside the patio doors. It's April. And as spring represents the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Milestones"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2471,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/a-toddler-sports-primer\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":3},"title":"A Toddler Sports Primer","date":"May 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The real explanation behind professional athletes is not necessarily innate or inherent talent. It is the ability not to kill themselves as toddlers. Baseball: Get hit in the head with a ball. Chase after it. Get distracted by the tee. Canvass the backyard clutching the bat and tee stand. Hockey:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/sportsOlympics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3284,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/11-people-you-meet-at-a-baseball-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":4},"title":"10 People You Meet at a Baseball Game","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"You know you've seen them all. Any additions? Bleacher Creature By far the most common character, Bleacher Creatures are relegated to \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 the bleachers. They\u2019ll be a well-known fixture of team spirit with signs, drums, and secret dance moves for specific players. They encourage and embrace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2723,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/in-which-i-marry-the-hot-dog-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2384,"position":5},"title":"In Which I Marry the Hot Dog Boy","date":"August 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The one constant, through all the years, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past. It reminds of us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}