Meta-baseball

As we emerge from the long, dark, cold, damprecanted a previously published theory he paid off
tunnel that is winter, we also face the culminationa bet with another astrophysicist by sending him
of the long, cold, damp hockey season in thea copy of the encyclopedia "Total Baseball". Actor
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Watching an ice-basedBilly Crystal fulfilled a life-long dream this year in
activity while temperature is high and the sun upspring training by having at-bat as a bonafide,
doesn't strike me as natural. It puts the hockeycontracted New York Yankee in a live game.
fan at odds with his environment. I would just asSadly, he struck out. But he went down swinging.
soon forget about snow and ice until I absolutelyThere is Cast of Thousands in meta-Baseball.
HAVE to in November or December. That's oneThere are Good guys and Bad guys, just think of
reason why I'm a baseball fan.Stan Musial and Gary Carter, then think of Ty
Spring brings with it the prospect of warmth andCobb and Barry Bonds. Towering Legends such as
long days outside in the sunshine, of lounging idlyBabe Ruth and Cy Young and Tragic figures like
and watching the kids play. That is what theLou Gehrig and Roberto Clemente.
Baseball season fosters. Hope springs eternal asBaseball has seen Heroic Figures like Jackie
the ritual of Opening Day is enacted across theRobinson and the Warm Personalities of Buck
continent and ushers in another season.O'Neal. There were "If-Only" players . What if
What makes Baseball so special is that it is MOREMickey Mantle wasn't injured most of his career?
than just the visible game in front of you; it isWe've seen Funny Guys like Casey Stengel and
meta-Baseball which every true fan sees just asYogi Berra, and Oddballs like Rube Waddell, a
clearly.pitcher who would bolt from the game to follow
Computer geeks are familiar with this prefix.fire trucks to a fire, and Mark "the Bird" Fidrych, a
"Meta", from the Greek means "after", "beyond",pitcher who stood on the mound and talked to
"with" expands Baseball from the strict confinesthe ball. Novel Players like Eddie Gaedel, standing
of what the rulebook governs between the foul3ft 7 inches, who had a single at-bat in a real
lines. Meta-Baseball embraces the activities thatgame.
occur BETWEEN the bursts of action, as well asThen there is the game itself. There were
BEFORE and AFTER.Dramatic Seasons such in 1941 when Joltin' Joe
It embraces the History of the game, over 150DiMaggio's streak of hitting in 56 straight games.
years of it, but most fans can only recall detailsIn 1961 Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased
going back to about 1900. Today's game can beand Maris beat, Babe Ruth's 60-homer record and
compared to previous games that have been1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire
played over the last 120 years.chased Roger's home run record.
Baseball Lore allows for truth and myth, but thatAnd Magical Moments, Willy Mays' "the catch" in
is all part of its charm. Proof being in the locationthe 1954 World Series. Ted Williams' final at-bat
of the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York,home run. Henry Aaron's 715th home run. Joe
the counterfeit "home" of the game. The debatesCarter's 1993 World Series-winning home run for
are endless. Did Babe Ruth really make the "calledthe Toronto Blue Jays.
shot" home run in the 1932 World Series? CouldWhile the Major Leagues provide most of our
Ted Williams hit .400 in today's game?memory fodder, Minor League baseball at all levels
There were Criminal Misfortunes, such as themakes its own contributions. In a 2007 Ottawa
(villainous in my books) exclusion of non-whitesLynx game, as a batter successfully hit a single
for so long, denying us a good look at top-notchand arrived at first base we turned back to home
players such as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige andplate to find the umpire spread-eagled across the
so many others. The 1919 "Black Sox" scandalplate, unconscious after being hit by the bat's
ended the careers of some players and changedback-swing.
the way the game is overseen. Pete Rose gotIt's all part of meta-Baseball and it only grows
himself banned for life in 1989 for gambling-relatedwith time.
activities.And let's not forget that you can enjoy the game
Meta-baseball incorporates that fact thaton a warm summer's evening with a cold glass of
Non-Athletic Types make a contribution. Whenbeer and hot dog while carrying on an animated
Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould died hediscussion with your companions without missing a
left a behind a book about baseball, publishedbeat of the game. And you might catch a ball!
posthumously as "Triumph and Tragedy inSo as the hockey season winds down, cheer up.
Mudville". When astrophysicist Stephen HawkingBaseball is here for another season!