Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

US & Int'l Papers

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A Father, a Son & Baseball

Wednesday April 12, 2006

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NOTE: This is an updated version of the MULLINGS originally published last April on the day of the first Washington Nationals' game at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.

September 6, 1995 I flew to Austin, Texas to watch a baseball game on TV with The Lad who was then an undergrad at the University of Texas. The occasion was Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive Major League baseball game, breaking Lou Gehrig's record.

When the Lad played Little League I rarely missed a game. In McLean, Virginia it was not at all noteworthy to see national leaders - Administration and Congressional, Democrat and Republican - working in the snack bar or helping prepare one of the fields.

It was not unusual to be watching a game, leaning on the centerfield fence with the head of the President's Domestic Policy Council on one side and a US Senator on the other, discussing the most important issue of the day: Shouldn't the shortstop (who was about 11-years-old) be playing a couple of steps toward first base with a left-handed batter up?

Over the years the Lad and I had gone to many baseball games in Baltimore; Washington, DC having been shut out of Major League Baseball since before he had been born. One night we saw Ripken make not one error, but two errors. The Lad was - literally - concerned that we were witnessing early evidence of the end of the world.

We had wanted to be together the night that Ripken broke Gehrig's record. We had dinner in Austin, went to my hotel room, ordered every dessert on the menu from room service, and sobbed in concert as, at the end of the fifth inning - making it a regulation game - Cal took a lap around the stadium in acknowledgment of the fact that the fans would not let the game re-start until he had done so.

Over 10 years have gone by. The Lad has gone from being a college student, to being a member of the President's staff, to a senior member of the Bush re-election campaign, and now deputy manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign in California.

Last year, after 34 years, baseball came home to Washington. Two different clubs called the Senators had deserted the city, so the current team is called the Nationals which is a double entendre in that they are a National League team, and they represent the Nation's Capital.

According to the Washington Post, in the years between Major League teams the population of the region went from 2.9 million to 5.8 million; ticket prices went from top price of $6 to a top of $95; and gasoline has gone from 36 cents per gallon to nearly three dollars.

At 6:52 AM, the morning of the Nationals' first game - exactly 12 hours before President Bush was scheduled to throw out the first pitch - The Lad came through the arrival doors at Dulles airport, returning the favor of my flight to Austin for a baseball game a decade earlier.

At 7:05 PM the first pitch from a Major Leaguer was thrown to a Major Leaguer in a real game.

Fathers and sons - parents and kids - have been going to baseball games for over a hundred years. This father and this son have been blessed to have shared unique opportunities over the course of our 30 years together. That Opening Day was one of them.

Baseball has been a continuing thread in our relationship, The Lad and I.

Last year, we sat along the first base line and watched a ballgame together. Ate hotdogs. Worried over defensive alignments. Ducked foul balls. And went home happy.

Today, April 12, 2006 is the Lad's birthday. Yesterday, I called him during the seventh inning stretch from this year's home opener. I love him as much as the first time I saw him; 30 years ago today.

Life might get better than this. But, it doesn't have to get much better.

On a the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A link to a page about Cal Ripken's career; the definition of a double entendre, a link to my first baseball column for the Alexandria Times, the Mullfoto from a year ago, and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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