A runner is thrown out by a step. A season ends. A team celebrates. The fan unleashes a smiling scream, his thirst for truth within the confines of sport measuring beyond naught, his more optimistic idea of human nature at least temporarily satiated.
Champagne adorns the clubhouse, on walls, soaking into the carpet, for all eternity. It will never dry. A manager accepts validation for his dedication, a player due adulation for an unforgiving occupation. An owner wipes away betraying tears. Commentators, live, attempt valiantly to trap a moment with words. Some succeed.
The sun sets earlier in the day; darkness accentuates winter, enveloping its essence. A hot stove flickers, belches, than burns. Amid the burning tumult, a team is delivered, forged and steadied, easily identifiable. We keep the game alive, us alone, carrying a tattered torch, at times expressively through will.
One day, nature scoffs at the calendar, and the air belies any tangible temperature. It feels lighter, looser; our mind automatically triggers a specific response. The mind searches for definition, until one magic word produces an exacting, all encompassing correlation.
Baseball, even in the winter we still think of Baseball.
The Ice melts. Days are counted, sped up, part of something greater than just game.
Finally, the pitchers and catchers report, our rhythm returns from the down turn of an infinitely epic crescendo, rising and flying again.
Ken Griffey’s bat waggles behind his head, a composer’s instrument of ultimate athletic expression, grace.
Nomar readjusts his batting gloves, Derek Jeter smiles while living the life we imagine, somewhere, sometime, Ernie Banks’ requests two.
Some fool analyzes his favorite team.