Baseball is a game that has many people and things all playing a part. Everything and everybody plays a part to make baseball a game referred to as our National Pastime. Would we have a game without our players? Do the fans make our game stay popular with their support? Do beginning baseball players put up with a coaches constant, do it this way, or do this, time and time again if he did not want to be a player like his favorite baseball hero? Probably not! We can readily see that the player, the fan and the beginners all have a part to play. But this is only the tip of the iceberg that we see. Hidden down in the real nitty gritty is all the other things which play a part in this great game of baseball. The glove the lowly little laced up piece of leather padding comes in all shapes and sizes. The baseball glove of a second baseman normally is significantly different from the outfielders. A second baseman's glove has shorter stubby fingers for digging into the dirt and scooping up that little baseball. Then again to be adept at turning the double play he needs a glove which will give up and let him have the ball without a struggle. Now the long striding fast moving outfielder has a glove with finger and webbing so long it looks like a dog catchers net when he runs down that high flying rocket shot. The outfielder may even hang onto the outfield fence send a wave a hand full of leather across the fence to retrieve little baseball. Look at what the first baseman calls a first baseman's mitt. If I did not know better I might think it was a size 16 leather sack he uses. At any rate he sacks all throws coming his way and pretends there is nothing to it. The catcher sits back there behind homeplate holding an overstuffed mitt that looks like a whoopie cushion. When ole knuckle ball thrower is on the mound he gets a mitt the size of a stolen stop sign. You see even the well oiled leather glove in baseball has a part to play. We often overlook these subtle little differences yet there part is critical in the game. Ole baseball bat is just like brother glove it changes with every hitter who comes to the plate. Big boy standing about 6'3" and a solid 240 lbs. come up there with a piece of lumber that looks like the garden fence post. He stands in there swings and whiffs swings and whiffs and drags himself and his power pole back to the dugout. Little 5'8" cracker jack buzzsaw comes to the plate with his tinker toy stick slaps the ball a good one and takes off like a scared jack rabbit. So the bat plays his part. The catcher wears a baseball mask because his girl friend would not be caught in public with a snaggled tooth catcher after little baseball at ninety miles per hour comes calling. So old iron mask plays a part. It's so hot here in the bleachers with no breeze. Then sudden as a sneaky hold up robber the wind picks up. The next hitter lofts a well hit ball toward right center field but ole long striding center fielder is outrun by the ball in the wind. Little ball rattles the fence now excitement is in the wind. So too the wind plays his part. It's the bottom of the eight inning two men are on base there are two outs and the pitcher is right handed and is throwing slower and slower. The next hitter coming up is a left handed batter so the manager makes his appearance. He calls for the ball and waves in a left handed relief pitcher. Now the team manager has let us know that he has a part in this game. Now would you not agree there are many known and unknown playing parts of our game of baseball? People and things all playing a part. There are so many more parts being a part of the action it is impossible to get them all in one session. Keep tuned and keep going out to the ball park and soon you will be a super fan. Batter Up---Let's Play Ball... |
