Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Associate Editors: Jonathan Allen, Jeff Smith
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Thursday
July 13,2000
Volume 102, Issue 7
Emerald
Jeff
Smith
Jack
Clifford
Memories and baseball are the fields of dreams
The time had come. It was the
day where I was to venture out
of the comforts of my home and
into the unpredictable future of
the University of Oregon.
My parents were being strong,
| holding back the emotion of let
ting their eldest son go.
I looked over in our jam
packed garage and spotted my
dad’s baseball glove. I brought it
out, along with mine, and said
rather softly, “Hey Dad, you
wanna have a catch?”
With a simple nod he agreed
and there we were. In the back
yard of our home with my mom
watching on with a smile. A big
change was about to take place
in our family, but at that mo
ment, the future was put on
hold while a father and his son
evoked memories of the past.
Of the times where my dad
and his friend would spend
countless hours in the backyard
in San Diego playing intense
games of whiffle ball against
their two six-year old sons.
Of the many nights spent at
Jack Murphy Stadium watching
our beloved San Diego Padres
play.
Not many words were spoken
between my dad and I during
our 10-minute catch that day,
but no words were necessary.
The memories that filled our
mind were enough.
In the purest sense of the
Emerald photo illustration
Baseball, shmaseball —
pastime is past its time
Was baseball’s All-Star game
on Tuesday night? Oops, missed
1 it. Had to clip my nails and
wash my hair. And, um, what
ever else to preoccupy my time.
Not to say that baseball is a
boring sport. OK, it is to say that
baseball is a boring sport. But I
respect those who have found
deeper meaning in America’s
“pastime.” I just haven’t found
those Zenesque qualities yet.
And I’ve tried. I remember
watching Atlanta when they re
ally sucked — and not just
when they played the New York
Yankees in the World Series.
We’re talking back in their early
Turner Broadcasting days, when
Dale Murphy was roaming the
outfield and Buddha Bob
Horner — an anti-athlete in
body shape if there ever was one
— belted the occasional mon
ster home run.
I was even living in Atlanta in
1995, when the team won its
first world championship in 38
years, although it was the first
one since the franchise moved
from Milwaukee. The score in
the sixth and final game? 1-0.
Really now, does that sound like
a captivating game?
Fans of the sport would re
spond with a resounding “yes”
to that question. What can be
more exciting than a game hang
ing in the balance until the final
fly ball is gloved and then se
cured, sparking an all-out rush
to the pitcher’s mound by the
winning team, fans in the stands
going wild and grown men seen
word, this was our way of ex
pressing love.
This “Field of Dreams’’-type
father-son bonding is one of the
many reasons why baseball will
always truly be America’s fa
vorite pastime.
The great thing about baseball
is that it has remained a signifi
cant part of American culture
and life. No other sport can
boast the rich history of base
ball. A history full of stories so
legendary that they seem fic
tional. It has always been a game
where the impossible seems
possible. The love of the game is
a sensation that can’t even come
close to being described in
words.
The sad thing is, no matter
how many people love the
game, there seem to be equally
as many people who just don’t
understand it. Too slow they
say. Too boring. Not enough ac
tion.
Fine, I respect your opinion.
But the people who say that are
missing the point. Baseball has
been around for some 160 years
and will continue to be around
for 160 more. The future of the
game is in its ability to captivate
the young players who will car
ry this game in their hearts
long after they stop playing.
It is a perfect symbol
for the American cul
ture because it goes
beyond the sim
ple sport of it
all. It delves
deep into the
heart of each
and every person
who lets it in and has
the amazing ability to
open up a childlike pas
sion in an 80-year-old that a
10-year-old can understand.
But so often people don’t let it
in. They complain about sum
mers because basketball season
is over and football season
seems so far away. But that’s just
the problem with the United
States today — it’s too hectic.
Always hustling and bustling
around with no apparent desti
nation.
Which for me has always
been the biggest appeal to base
ball. It forces an easy-going pace
on you and makes you wait nine
innings for that delicious mo
ment when, “with Jimmy safe at
second, and Flynn a-huggin’
third, the mighty Casey at long
last, advances to the bat.”
And sure, as in the poem
“Casey at the Bat,” sometimes
there may not be joy in
Mudville because Mighty Casey
has struck out. But what is per
haps the greatest thing of all
about baseball is that there is al
ways a tomorrow, always a dif
ferent day to start anew.
I will leave you with a fa
vorite quote of mine from for
mer baseball commissioner A.
Bartlett Giamatti, who passed
away in 1989. A quote that
uniquely identifies what it is
about the game that leaves peo
ple enchanted.
“It breaks your heart. It is de
signed to break your heart. The
game begins in the spring, when
everything else begins again,
and it blossoms in the summer,
filling the afternoons and
evenings, and then as soon as
the chill rains come, it stops and
leaves you to face the fall
alone.”
Jeff Smith is an associate editor for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not
necessarily represent those of the
Emerald. He can be reached at Smitt
side@aol.com.
crying in the dugouts?
Well, how about last year’s
Super Bowl, which ended on a
thrilling note, with Tennessee
receiver Kevin Dyson ending up
6 inches from the goal-line as
time ran out on the Titans’
chances for a trophy? Or how
about the plethora of basketball
games that Michael Jordan end
ed with his patented jump shot?
What’s the most charged up
moment on the diamond? When
someone cracks a home run.
Then he jogs around the bases.
And what about some of the
more common baseball jargon?
Slow rollers, drag bunts, lazy fly
balls. Makes a person want to
commit a suicide squeeze.
I understand baseball’s whole
connection to the father-son re
lationship. Yes, it is a nice feel
ing to get those pitching point
ers or fielding tips from Dad and
then put them to use in a game.
No doubt that there are many
more fathers teaching their kids
how to turn a double play than
ones who are showing their
youngsters the best way to slam
an opponent to the turf.
That, I think, is at the core of
why baseball is so revered. Be
cause we can all go to the local
playing field and fantasize
about being Chipper Jones or
Ken Griffey, Jr., without too
much effort. Try to hit a hole in
the offensive line the way Ter
rell Davis does or jam a ball with
the same intensity as Kobe,
however, and the magic just
doesn’t appear as easily.
Another one of baseball’s
drawbacks is the season’s
length. One hundred and sixty
two games to decide a division
winner? Wake me up after the
150th game and let me enjoy a
good pennant race, but please
don’t expect me to pay attention
to a full season of 2-1 ball games.
(OK, in all fairness, the basket
ball season is just as long and la
borious to get through, but each
game in the NFL season has dra
ma related to the final stand
ings.)
For some fans, baseball sea
son has this numbing effect on
them and they begin to talk in
this strange language — “Well,
you know, when pitching in an
east-to-west direction, Randy
Johnson had a 1.12 ERA against
right-handed batters that have
last names beginning with the
letter Q.”
The Elias Sports Bureau is not
my friend.
Fans also try to paint baseball
as the perfect sport because of its
structure: with no time limit and
at least 51 outs needed to com
plete a game, a game of infinite
length is always a possibility.
Just imagine, an endless num
ber of pick-off attempts. Wow.
Jack Clifford is the Oregon Daily Emer
ald’s editor in chief.
Thumbs
To George W. Bush
The presidential
candidate declared
that “strong civil
rights enforcement
will be a corner
stone of my admin
istration” in a
speech at the
NAACP annual con
vention. Despite
facinga skeptical
audience, Bush
made his points
To a promising
Alzheimer’s
vaccine
The vaccine revers
es some damaging
effects of the dev
astating brain dis
order in animals
and appears safe
in the first tests on
people. The vac
cine, which is ex
perimental,
sparked excite
ment as a new ap
proach to treating
the incurable dis
ease.
To Notre Dame
The South Bend,
Ind.,school is try
ing to steal our
basketball coach
from his beloved
alma mater. Not
only did Ernie Kent
guide the Ducks to
only its second
NCAA Tournament
appearance since
1961, but he also
has a recruiting
class coming in
that was ranked
No. 1 in the West.
So, Notre Dame,
look elsewhere!
You haven’t Ern-ed
the right to call
him your coach.
To a second attack
on abortion doctor
A doctor who was
once shot by a sus
pected anti-abor
tion activist was
wounded in his of
fice Tuesday by a
knife-wielding at
tacker. The as