Some have weighed the risks and said: “No, thanks! Hope to see you next year!”
Others are not with their respective teams because they’ve
tested positive for the corona virus. They are quarantined or, if ill,
receiving medical treatment.
It was odd to hit Independence Day with still no baseball in
2020. Yet there is a lot of oddity on tap for this year.
Recently, however, a good dose of baseball nostalgia was
offered when the 1968 All-Star Game was televised. These players were my first
baseball heroes.
The fuzzy black-and-white images made the players' faces nearly
indistinguishable. The team uniforms and numbers were needed to tell the
players apart.
Yet some were identifiable, at least to me, simply by the way they moved: Aaron, Clemente, Rose, Koufax and, of course, Mays.
Yet some were identifiable, at least to me, simply by the way they moved: Aaron, Clemente, Rose, Koufax and, of course, Mays.
I was 12 when the game was televised originally. Around that
time, while other kids were gluing together and painting ’57 Chevy model cars,
I assembled and painted a model of Willie Mays making “the catch.”
The image came from the 1954 World Series (before I was
born) when the Giants were still in New York. But I knew of him playing in the
swirling winds of Candlestick Park in San Francisco. So I applied brown and
orange tones to his Giants uniform.
Those blessed to watch “the Say Hey Kid” play centerfield, as well
as hit and run, know the personification of an all-around player. The Alabama native, now 89, was as complete of a player as anyone who ever
played the game.
Play ball! As soon as it's safe to do so.
Play ball! As soon as it's safe to do so.
