WHAT'S BEST ABOUT BASEBALL

I woke up this morning like most people in America did I'd guess.  I felt heavy.  I'm tired.  You're tired. WE are all tired.  Pandemic?  Yep.  It sucks to put it mildly.  It's taken so much from us.  All of us.

Political stuff... which we don't necessarily touch here at BYB... Yes.  That's a BIG 10-4.  It's like hearing "Mmm Bop" on loop on speakers that go to Spinal Tap's "11", 24/7, 365.  It is exhausting.

Nobody is wrong on their side, everybody is right on your side... Side? That's what tires me the most. There isn't supposed to be a side.  Just one team.  Look at the great success stories in modern history. Talent was key, but team chemistry was PARAMOUNT!  Even on clubs that had personalities that didn't jibe all that well.  Chemistry boils down to respecting your teammate and knowing they'll play their asses off for the team. 

We need to find that again here in the Good ol' U.S. of A.  And what better time then now?  We are all commonly dealing with struggle, loss and heartbreak.  Why not pick a teammate up?  Be a spot starter for a friend nursing a real life injury.  Come up big for a struggling rookie who whiffed at a ball in the dirt trying to make something happen for his or her family.  

The unforgivable evil of this Covid-19 slog is that it has separated us.  People (even those you disagree with politically) NEED other people.  We are not, that is each of us, an island.  Social Media has merit, but the bad massively outweighs the good in my opinion.  It has killed the "PUB CULTURE" (why an Irishman like myself believes the Irish could save the world).  That is face to face interaction.  Real conversations where we can see and feel the connection we share.  An iPhone screen or laptop doesn't bring you in for the "real thing".  It just doesn't.  But thanks to coronavirus we are more dependent on that which causes us the most unwanted stress, anger and exhaustion.

I was scrolling through Instagram... a shocker given the time we live in, right?  I found a video of Derek Jeter's final All-Star Game in Minnesota.  It was just what I needed after the news cycle the past year.  It was America at it's best.  Nobody seemed to be tweeting as they panned around Target Field.  No one was arguing in the stands.  People from all over the country...New Yorkers, Minnesotans, Chicagoans , Floridians...hell, even those wicked pissah Bostonians stood and cheered for an American Baseball Player.  

Jeet wasn't a Yankee that night.  He was the little boy on the tee ball diamond and we were all his folks.  Chatting it up with other parents. Enjoying the game and each other's company.  

"Who'd you vote for?"  wasn't asked.  "Should we tax Jim more?  He has made a killing in the market!" not on anyone's mind or lips.  We were together and watched baseball.  It is truly surreal how it can calm the country, and allow a map to how we SHOULD be acting.  Sure Boston fans will never like the Bronx faithful.  LA and Frisco's battle started when they were still Giants on the Polo Grounds and guys named Jackie and Pee Wee were still dodging trains in Brooklyn.  The North side and South side may share a great love for "Da Bears", but the line is drawn when it comes to Sox and Baby Bears surrounded by Ivy covered brick.  

BUT... we still love those other teams in some strange way.  We do.  I can't stand the LA Angels of Anaheim, near Disneyland, close to the 5 Freeway, by the mall with Tony Roma's, close to the Olive Garden where No Doubt got their start...but I still love to watch them play.

Baseball heals us.  It really does.  I watched "City Slickers' recently. A totally underrated movie in my opinion, and there is a scene where Daniel Stern's character, a broken man down on his luck...sorta like most in 2020 says that baseball has always been there to help him talk with a father he didn't have a great connection with.  Many of us have that sort of relationship with others in America right now... but baseball always acts like the old friend we all have in common.  The guy that comes to town and gets us all together.  It's then we are reminded that differences don't add up to much...but commonality very much does.

I miss you guys.  Sure I don't know any of you really.  Not in the sense that we are close friends or family.  But at a ballgame we really are.  How many hugs and high 5's have you thrown around to the folks in the row behind you at moments like when Paul O'Neill and Donnie Baseball caused Gary Throne to exclaim, "HOLD ON TO THE ROOF!" in 1995...a series the Yanks lost...but I remember the good stuff because of baseball.  

Baseball isn't a game to us.  It's a family member. It's hope. It's a great album we can play until the needle breaks. It's home.

We need it back.

Credit: Elite Sports NY

Much love to you and yours in 2021 (my lucky number and the number of the Warrior.)

--Mikey 

Yes, it's a little on the nose and a lot cliche'... but sometimes you need to remember that we are.

--Mike O'Hara
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @mikeyoh21