Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

Baseball is America’s pastime. Every April, millions of fans all over the country have high hopes that their favorite team will make it to October. Losses are excused as early season jitters, wins are inflated to grandiose predictions. Fans from young kids to old men argue and cajole about who the best teams are and who the best players are. And every baseball fan has a favorite player.

Unless you happen to be Barack Obama. In a stunningly embarrassing moment on TV (video below) during the National’s home opener against the Phillies, Obama talks about being “a Southside kid” and long-time White Sox fan and is then asked who his favorite player was growing up. The stammering becomes awkward as it is obvious he can’t name anyone, and then tries to shift to “I liked a lot of Cubs too.” He completes his verbal gymnastics by saying he grew up in Hawaii and was an A’s fan.

I know it may sound petty, but for crying out loud, you can’t foist yourself as a regular guy from the Southside of Chicago, talking about how big a fan you are of the White Sox – even implying you’re a White Sox kid – and be literally stumped to come up with ONE name of a player. It is offensive to real baseball fans.

Of course, I’m not sure why I’m so fired up about this… this is the same guy who, standing in the heartland of America’s field of dreams (for you non-baseball fans, that’s Iowa), tried to connect to the farmers during his campaign by asking, “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?”

I didn’t even know what arugula was at the time. To make matters worse for him, they don’t grow arugula in any real quantity in Iowa, and there are no Whole Foods stores in the entire state.

This pattern of politicians pretending to be something they’re not when it comes to everyday life is exactly what drives people crazy. Hey, we may disagree on policy, but don’t just make stuff up to make yourself “more real.”

And please, stop being a poser with America’s favorite pastime.

The only Diamondbacks game I got to last year was the second to the last home game, so I was determined to start the season right by taking my 11 year-old son to Arizona’s home opener.

It didn’t disappoint. Between a towering home run by Mark Reynolds, a two-run inside-the-park round-tripper by Stephen Drew and a masterful performance by Dan Haran on the mound, it was a great day – not to mention the fighter jet flyover to start the game.

There is nothing quite like sharing opening day with your son, particularly when he has a big smile on his ice-creamed smeared face after enjoying a Cold Stone Oreo Overload washing down a 2 lb bag of peanuts.

Yes, it’s only the first game, but the D-Backs are showing some real promise this year.

Here’s to getting to a few more games this year.

Major League Baseball spring training is underway and my sons little league opening day is this week.

For a baseball nut like me, it’s Christmas in the spring.

The gift of the Cactus League, with the addition of the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, make spring training that much better. With the Diamondbacks moving from Tucson to the Valley soon for spring training, makes the Cactus League that must stronger.

Play ball!

Wind. It’s a necessary element, right?

I hate wind. It is my least favorite element.

I’ll never forget when I decided that I hated wind with a passion. It was my senior year of high school. I was standing in centerfield in Chinle, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation during an early spring baseball game. Chinle High School apparently didn’t think having grass in the outfield was necessary. Well, you can imagine what I was dealing with standing out there with 30-mile an hour wind blowing dust around. I thought my eyes were going to be permanently damaged by dust and every fly ball was a circus act trying to judge where it was going to come down.

I decided then and there, with tears running down my dusty face (probably a combination of the dirt in my eyes and pure frustration) that I HATED wind. Nothing since then has changed my mind – it’s just reinforced it.

What could be worse than walking in 15 degree winter weather only to have to deal with wind, causing the wind chill to drive the actual temperature below zero? How frustrating is it when you are in a rainstorm and the wind is whipping your umbrella around like a rag doll? Or you are on a late night flight from the East coast headed west and the headwinds are making what should be a three and half hour flight nearly five hours?

I hate wind.