Thurs., Oct. 27, 2005--Baseball for girls

As I was listening to all of the responses to the White Sox victory last night, I was struck by the number of broadcasters who kept saying that this is something that grandfathers, fathers, and sons will always remember and share together. A couple of things ran through my head.

First, if what these broadcasters say is true (and I don't doubt that it is), what is it about baseball that creates this bond? Men tease women about weepy "chick flicks," but there are more than a few men who get choked up by the final scene in "Field of Dreams" when Roy's dead father comes out of the cornfield for one last game of catch. Maybe other sports create these memories (football games in the backyard, shooting baskets at the hoop on the garage), but baseball is the model. I think about games of catch with my dad as I'm sure he does with his dad and so on. When you play catch, it's usually warm, it's an activity that doesn't take a huge amount of skill, and you have to face each other. Ah, I think that might be it. There aren't many activities when a father and a son stand in front of one another and actually have to look at each other as they throw and catch, throw and catch. The father may notice his son growing up, the son wonders if he'll be like his father. They may talk, but usually the only sound is the pop of mitt, which is usually the only sound that's needed.

Second, should this be an exclusively male thing? I'll always have wonderful memories of taking my daughter to her first baseball game, which was, as a matter of fact, at U.S. Cellular Field, where the White Sox play. The White Sox, however, weren't the ones playing. This was last year when the Florida Marlins were forced to find other places to play their home games because of a hurricane. Because of some scheduling quirk, they played two games against the Montreal Expos in Chicago. It was great because tickets were cheap, you could sit wherever you wanted (meaning Caroline, who was 3 at the time, could get up and move if she wanted to), and the baseball was still major-league quality. So, yes, fathers and sons will enjoy this memory. But don't forget the mothers and daughters, too.