As of Friday morning there will be only 12 days left until we can utter four of the most wonderful words in the English language: Pitchers and Catchers Report. As I started to read this out loud Lorraine finished the words with me. Either Lorraine is a true believer or she just knows well enough the passion those words elicit in every true believer.
Baseball. Green grass (when played in the right venues - as Richie Allen once said, "If a horse can't eat it, I don't want to play on it), Blue skies (no domes please), the crack of the bat (no pings from aluminum)and the slap of a baseball into the finely oiled pocket of a leather glove.
Baseball. When you step between the foul lines the rest of the world fades away. It's you and your team. It's you and the game. It's baseball. And it's good.
Pitchers and Catchers Report. Pitchers and Catchers Report. Four glorious words that bring into the present the fullness of our past. Tinkers to Evers to Chance. Shoeless Joe. Playing Second Base for the Dodgers, number 42, Jackie Robinson. The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! 714. 56. 61. 27! Don Larsen's perfect game. 50% of the game is 90% mental. Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. Oh, Doctor! Holy Cow! How about that!
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