Play ball
Where I come from, baseball is a religion. People live and breathe the St. Louis, Cardinals. 130 years plus of baseball tradition, handed down from generation to generation.
This year marks one of the worst starts in franchise history. And it gives me pause.
Baseball has meant a lot to me growing up. I played it in my backyard, on my school team, and for a select league during the summer. It was how I knew summer was here. Jack Buck would tell me a story on long, lazy summer nights. Mike Shannon would laugh and tell a story about his playing days. Ozzie would make some amazing catch and throw, that nobody else could make. Big Mac would hit ANOTHER home run. It was the rhythm of summer, the pulse of a city and the beacon for many states in the midwest. The Sea of Red. Cardinal Nation. Baseball heaven. And like many other father/son dynamics, it’s something I shared with my dad.
Other cities have rabid fan bases. And a lot of people roll their eyes when they hear, “best fans in baseball.”
All I know is baseball is the heartbeat of my town.
And that heart hurts right now. We have great players, but our team is just… well not good. We’re not playing well at all. We are terrible.
And yet, I proudly root for my St. Louis Cardinals. I’ll wear my Arenado jersey, my Matt Holliday Jersey, my Molina jersey, all summer long. - whether we turn this ship around and start winning or not. Cardinals fans could be accused of becoming complacent. We’ve gotten used to winning. And winning a lot. Everybody wants that. But at some point, the law of averages says we have to lose too. That’s baseball. And that’s life.
Baseball brought one of the worst injuries I’ve ever sustained. A head injury that still affects me to this day. But it has also brought me some of the greatest thrills of my life. Both playing and watching.
Baseball has hallmark moments. “Go crazy folks” and “We will see you tomorrow night” come to mind. And just like a great meal, or an awesome concert, or a first date, baseball can form pathways in our brain that bring us back to moments in our own lives.
We won it all the year I turned one, the year I got married and the year my first child was born.
This year we are struggling. But it is through the struggle that we find out who we are. Very cliche, yet very true. When we struggle, we find out who we are - the good, the bad and yes, the ugly.
Baseball has meant so much to me. Yes, for a lot of people, it’s just a game. And it is. But it has been so much more for me.
Baseball has run in direct parallel to my life. It’s taught me a lot about patience and endurance. 162 games a season is not for the faint of heart. It’s a marathon. A test of the mind, body and soul.
And this year, the test is very real. Put plainly are team is full of talent but has played horribly. And everyone knows it. And for the past 20 years (particularly), we’ve gotten used to winning. The franchise has a history of winning but this generation is very used to it. We are not accustomed to losing. Nobody likes it, nobody wants it. In sports or in life. But it is inevitable and at times one could argue - even necessary.
My hope is that the ownership, the team, the fans all take pause and remember that baseball, much like life, has significant ups and downs. That even when a lot looks right, a lot can go wrong. And when it goes wrong, how we respond is our chance to grow. We don’t have to put a bold face on. We can be upset, we can be critical, we can point out what’s not working and analyze it to death.
But at some point, we put it all down, go out and do it all over again. There’s another game, just like there is another sunrise.
There are plenty of pundits and critics who rightly site issues within the existing roster. Holes in our team have gone unaddressed, while others have been fixed. Great players have gotten away from our development and are now succeeding for other teams. But one the flip side, two of are current brightest stars were acquired from other teams, breaking other fans’ collective hearts.
It’s a funny game that way. It will suck you in and charm you, then completely spit you out and break your heart. What might have been, what could have been.
In baseball, hindsight is indeed, always 20/20. It’s so much like life.
And just like life, there’s greed and selfishness mixed with generosity and altruism. Pomp and circumstance, balance with boring and mundane.
And just like our flight around this rock hurtling through space, baseball is a mysterious wonder. When the team comes together, and the plays get made. The hit, the bunt, the steal, the double play, the sacrifice, the strikeout, when the team comes together and it all begins to work - it’s magic.
We’re derailed right now. Nothing is going right. Our team is a bit lost. But I think they will find it again. It might be a year of losing. But I’m holding out hope we find our stride and begin to win again.
Either way, I’m rooting for my team.
So let’s play ball.