As I worked in the studio yesterday, familiar sounds filled the space for the first time this year.
The slap of a ball on the leather of a glove. The crack of the bat. The muffled bellow of a called strike from the umpire. The crowd roaring when a ball clears the outfield wall. The familiar voices of the longtime announcers describing a pitch or giving a player’s stats as he strolls to the plate.
Baseball’s back. Spring training is underway once more.
I feel as though my year is officially started and that I am once again engaged with the continuum of time. Baseball is a symbol of the cyclical nature of time and the fallibility of man for me and feels almost ingrained. The biggest stars, names that will resonate with fans for generations, fail on a regular basis, much more often than they succeed as their season goes on an almost daily basis through three seasons of the year. The game is about patience and perseverance, continually slogging ahead day after day. Putting aside setbacks and looking at each new day and the next game as a new start. Grinding it out.
Doesn’t sound too appealing when put that way but the beauty comes from the moments of triumph that sprout during this long march through the year, bursts of brilliance and sudden victory that overshadow the failures that came before.
Much like life.
So again, pitchers throw, catchers catch and hitters swing . Fielders kick the dirt of the infield and track flyballs across the lush green carpets of the outfield and once again, I feel as though I am back in the flow and rhythm of my year. Play ball!
Redtree Times 