by L.T. Liquori
It’s only been a couple days without America’s pastime and I already miss Major League Baseball. I know that America’s sport is football, but for me, the baseball die-hard, the months without baseball are a little gloomier. Maybe it has to do with the fact that those months are November through March and I reside in Central New York.
I know that the unofficial start to summer is Memorial Day. I know that the official start, the summer solstice, is somewhere around June 21st. However, for me, summer begins on Opening Day.
There is something about freshly mowed outfield grass, even a bleacher seat and a hot dog. Even if the April wind is whipping the atmosphere, having the option to take it in through the television is enough to keep me warm.
Even when the Yankees get knocked out of the play-offs, I refuse to be a statistic. I refuse to be part of a growing downward trend that shows more and more people switching off the Fall Classic.
If you contributed to that growing trend this year you missed a great Series. A Series that produced a Game 7 for the first time since 2002. A Series that produced what will go down as one of the most exciting Game 6’s in the history of the sport. A Series that gave us an extra-inning Game 6 that had the Texas Rangers one strike away from their first ever World Series title…twice.
I did not miss Game 6. My eyes were glued to the screen. Nervous for the result, but more anxious at the thought that the sun was quickly setting on my "summer." I was torn. Would I have loved to see a first-time World Series Champ? – Sure. But, just to have one more game…
I know that the unofficial end to summer is Labor Day. I know the official end, the autumnal equinox, is sometime around September 21st. However, for me, summer ends when the World Series ends.
Shivering while shooting high school football, I warmed up at the thought that somewhere people could still enjoy freshly mowed outfield grass and a hot dog at the ballpark.
It's ironic that a guy named David Freese, extended my "summer." If only, for one extra game.
His World Series ring and MVP trophy should keep him warm until Spring Training.
I will have Hot Stove baseball to get me through my first winter in Syracuse.
