Reese Kaplan -- Remember When We All Enjoyed Baseball?

It's a fine Saturday morning and nothing is new in Mets land, so let's take some time to ponder why we find baseball so fascinating and the reason the off-season captivates us sometimes more than the games themselves. Think back to what drew you into the game and refresh your enthusiasm without concentrating on the local idiosyncrasies of Steve Cohen's Mets.

Political columnist George Will may not always purport values and concepts I can always embrace, but as a baseball fan he is a first rate example and deep thinker.  He pretty much summed up the sport with a very simple analogy: 

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.  -- George Will

Of course, the meaning here is far beyond the rudimentary words said by Will.  I remember comedian George Carlin also praising the difference between football and baseball with his own creative use of the English language:

One of the things I always appreciated about the game of baseball is contained within Carlin's humorous description.  It is a game without clocks, it is a game where violence is not a planned part of the contest, and it is a game where anyone can stand out as either the hero or the goat (and not in the Greatest of All Time meaning) when you least expect it.  

What's particularly enervating for the soul and best relieves day-to-day stress is the first snap of a pitcher's ball echoing off his catcher's glove, the crack of a bat making an unmistakable sound when the ball is ripped from the plate into the diamond, and the bark of the umpire calling strikes and judging safe vs. out.  Or remember how it feels when your team is having its narrow lead threatened with runners in scoring position to see a slickly handled double play.  Even better is the triple play, but we often go full seasons without seeing a single one executed. 
 

Also think back to how it feels when you have a Mookie Wilson, a Vince Coleman, a Roger Cedeno or a Jose Reyes unnerving the opposing pitcher and forcing infielders to cheat closer to the bags whenever they were on base.  Speed is almost forgotten in today's game but it adds an element of surprise and triumph whenever free bags are successfully pilfered.  

On the other side of the game, reminisce about what it's like when your team's pitcher is totally dominating the opposition.  Yes, watching a Jacob deGrom plow down hitters with aplomb is wonderful, but even better are the guys who rack up the awesome strikeout totals per game who make hitters look positive ineffectual when they flail helplessly at a delivery they weren't prepared to handle.  There are many memories in my mind of guys like Doc Gooden and even Edwin Diaz leaving hitters walking back to the dugout shaking their heads in disbelief.  

Think also about the celebrations that take place when a winning run scores in the bottom of the 9th (or extra innings), when a championship series is won or especially when the World Series flag will be flying over your stadium forevermore.  Whether it's the old pie-in-the-face antics, the glove sailing skyward in a victorious heave or simply a seemingly never ending sea of team uniforms surrounding and cheering and hugging to commemorate the moment.  

Someday the Mets will find their new front office personnel, find a manager, sign free agents, make trades and prepare for the upcoming season.  For now, just sit back and remember the good things that drew you to the game in the first place.  And oh yeah...there's a World Series going on.