More than just a game

James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams: "The one constant through all the years... has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steam rollers, it's been erased like a blackboard. Rebuilt and then erased again, but baseball has marked the time... This game is a part of our past... it reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."


Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Many of my childhood memories involve the game in one way or another. Front yard baseball with friends consumed most of summer's days, and although I played organized ball it was our daily "sandlot" games in the old neighborhood that I seem to miss the most. Baseball introduced me to my best friend when I was 9. Two shy kids who lived in the same neighborhood, rode the same bus, but never said two words to one another until landing on the all-star team together in the summer of '85.

Baseball was currency to me, and it's value was priceless. My father coached little league baseball for decades, and many of those years he coached without having a child on the field. Although the last 10 - 15 years he was alive we became the best of friends, growing up, baseball was the bond that united us. There aren't many memories of my childhood, playing with my father, that baseball wasn't involved. I can count on one hand how many times I saw my father with tears in his eyes, and two of those times involved baseball. The first baseball tear I saw was in 1990, when we defeated Hallsville 1-0 for the first time on our way to the state tournament. The second time was the only time I saw him look at me with disappointment in his eyes. It was the loss of a baseball dream that brought the tear this time. I injured both shoulders playing football when I was 15, and I could not swing a bat without the left shoulder dislocating. My father knew that my competitive days of baseball were gone, along with his baseball dreams for me. He was right, and I never played a single inning of baseball in high school.

Passion - a strong feeling or emotion
Although I haven't played in years, baseball is still my one true passion outside of my family. I can get lost in the history of it like nothing else I know. The ballpark is my temple, the smells, the crowd, and the crack of the bat. Even though I've seen "THE ROOKIE" countless times, I still get a tear in my eye when Jim Morris ( Dennis Quaid ) makes the phone call to his wife, letting her know he has been called up. Last week I started compiling and recording stats, dates, and other historical facts through the history of baseball. My plan is to make two scrap books, one of Texas Rangers History, and one for all of Major League Baseball. Once completed, I will have them sitting out in our house in hopes that one day my passion for baseball will be shared by my boys. If nothing else, they can read through it and learn some baseball history. Passion, much like dreams, makes life much more interesting, and to me, baseball will always be more than just a game.