The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army o

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.” - James Earl Jones – “Field of Dreams”

“Baseball isn’t just a game. It’s life being played out on a field—a field of dreams—on diamonds of green, where players pursuing their dreams try to be the best they can be on the grandest stage of all—where men become boys and boys become men, all speaking one universal language without uttering a single word.” - Tom Tatum

“In playing ball, and in life, a person occasionally gets the opportunity to do something great. When that time comes, only two things matter: being prepared to seize the moment and having the courage to take your best swing.” - Hank Aaron

I attended my first baseball game when I was nine years old, and the memory of that game has stayed with me my entire life. My dad was not a lover of sports; his concentration was always on the academic, and when it came to his son, my academic success was more critical in his mind than my playing sports. To his credit, and I believe due to his love for me, he recognized that his son loved baseball, and while we would “never have a catch,” he knew my love of baseball was a big part of my world, and he found a way to get tickets for the two of us to attend a Chicago White Sox game. The year was 1959, and the White Sox, who were on their way to winning the American League pennant, were in competition with the Cleveland Indians for the pennant, and surprisingly, my dad was able to get us tickets to see these two teams play.

The night of the game was almost like a dream come true; our evening started out with dinner at a fancy restaurant, and then our trip to the ballpark. In 1959 the Sox played at old Comiskey Park, but to me if was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen, the lush grass, the infield diamond were all there in living color as opposed to our black and white television at home, it was as they say, “a field of dreams.” The game went as I dreamed it would, with the Sox winning 4-3. That would be the only game I attended with my father, but that wouldn’t matter, it has cemented my love for the game, deepened my relationship with my father, and it made me a life-long Sox fan.

There are times I recount that evening, and its impact on my life. As I grew into adulthood, married and had my own children, I saw the bond that could develop between a father and his children through sports, especially baseball. My sons all grew up devoted fans of the game, and we have had numerous opportunities to witness together the ups and downs of our beloved Chicago teams. The other day, I had a chance to attend a Sox game with two of my three sons, and as we sat there watching the game, I thought how the game of baseball really epitomizes life; there are days when we “lose” and things don’t go as expected, but there is always tomorrow, when a “new game” gives us a chance to overcome yesterday’s problems. That is a lesson, I hope my sons will always remember and will pass on to their children.  

My father may not have known the impact that game would have on me; recounting that game, I was reminded that as James Earl Jones said, baseball, “ …it’s part of our past. (Ray) it reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.” Maybe my dad did know more about life than I ever imagined; maybe he knew that his son would come to gain a life lesson that in life “only two things matter: being prepared to seize the moment and having the courage to take your best swing.”  

Thanks Dad for understanding your son so well; I will always appreciate your stepping out of your comfort zone to support my love for baseball and the lessons it epitomizes.