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A Father, a Son & Baseball
Rich Galen Friday April 15, 2005
Click here for an Easy Print Version
- On 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 and later Babe Ruth League baseball 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 for baseball or softball.
- There was a game when I was leaning on the centerfield fence of Field 2 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, at shortstop. 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 Cal's Streak 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.
- Nearly 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 campaign, having moved from Texas to Washington, DC, and now out to San Francisco to be near his fianc�e.
- Last night, after 34 years, baseball came home to Washington. Two different clubs called the Senators have deserted the city, so the new 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 yesterday's Washington Post, since we have had a baseball team the population of the region has gone from 2.9 million to 5.8 million (each of whom insists on being on the road exactly when I need to go somewhere); ticket prices have gone from top price of $6 to a top of $95; and gasoline has gone from 36 cents per gallon to about two-and-a-quarter.
- At 6:52 yesterday morning - 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 ballgame a decade before.
- At about 4:30 yesterday afternoon we parked in Lot 8 and made our way into the ballpark.
- At 7:05 last night the first pitch from a Major Leaguer in a real game was thrown by Livan Hernandez.
- 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 29 years together. This Opening Day was one of them.
- Last night we sat along the first base line and watched a ballgame together. Ate hotdogs. Worried over the defensive alignment. Ducked foul balls. And went home happy.
- Life might get better than this. But, it doesn't have to get much better.
- On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A pretty good page summarizing Cal Ripken's career; a Mullfoto from The Game; and an undecipherable Catchy Caption of the Day.
--END --
Copyright © 2005 Richard A. Galen
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