WHY BASEBALL MATTERS ON ALL-STAR GAME DAY

The MLB All-Star Game is tonight. It's just a game. Its fun to see all the stars, fun to wish that my Reds had some of those guys. It's fun to see all the stars gawking at each other. And it's fun to see them have fun, after all, they've gotten to play a game as their job. I don't get to do that. I'm glad to see them smile and ask each other to sign their autographs. I like seeing the players outwardly happy and emotional, and hear from them about what baseball means to them. This is an exhibition game, Bud Selig will tell you that it matters. It does matter. It matters to those of us that watch it, and to those that actually play it, but not for what Selig thinks it does; he couldn't be further from the truth. It matters because it's fun. Once you get through the marketing, and positioning and advertising, you get to see a game played by a collection of that year's finest players. How could we not like that? It matters because there's only one per year, and so it's a special occasion. It matters because it's interesting to watch, to those of us that love baseball. The players don't play as hard as they used to. It's ok. I don't want anyone to get hurt and screw up their regular season, and let their everyday teammates down. I really don't want to see that. I remember the year in college basketball when Kenyon Martin broke his leg in the C-USA tournament. Can you imagine if that were an exhibition game?? They would've burnt the college to the ground that night. But the all-star games are always fun. And that's the point right? Baseball as entertainment? Baselball as an escape? Baseball as a distraction from the stresses of our everyday lives right? You can agree, it's ok. The all star game is fun. Say it, you know you want to.

Baseball matters to me. It matters to millions of people, and to some girls too. And today, because I was thinking about baseball, and how it does matter to me, I started thinking about Todd Drew, the excellent New York Yankees writer and essayist. I didn't learn about Todd until he died last winter, at 41 years old. But I've read his work since and think he was a very talented story teller. I would have liked to have known him. Please read this wonderful peice of work and maybe read more while you're there. Baseball mattered to him. He grew up a Yankee fan, and died a Yankee fan. He was also a great boxing writer. But baseball mattered to him for the reasons I mentioned before. Baseball is fun and its entertaining, and makes us root for things and to cheer. I cheer at home in silence after my kids go to bed, while watching a game with the sound down. I remember when Aaron Boone hit that magnificent home run to put the Yankees in the World Series in 2003. We were in a hotel in West Virginia, on the way to South Carolina. We had a suite, and I was in the front room watching that game in silence, and when he hit that homer in the 11th inning, I was standing and cheering in silence, alone,with the TV muted, while two-year-old Hannah slept in the next room. And that's why baseball matters. Thats baseball. Thats fun. And it's also the escape I spoke of. It's a hobby for millions, and that's why baseball matters. We love following it. My Reds haven't had a winning record in 8 years. And I've watched or listened to most of the games in that time period. I said MOST! Baseball matters. It does. It mattered to Todd Drew when he was dying. This is the last thing he ever wrote, he wrote it before he went into the hospital for treatment, and died a short time later:

Baseball and Me

By Todd Drew

I went to a baseball game after my father’s funeral. I also went to one after finding out about my mother’s brain cancer.

It was selfish and heartless. I felt guilty before and embarrassed after, but for nine innings I felt only the game. That’s the way it’s always been between baseball and me.

It was my friend when I didn’t have any others. And it has always been there to talk or listen or simply to watch.

Baseball helps me forget and it makes me remember. That’s why it was exactly what I needed on the worst days of my life.

But there were no games when a doctor told me that I had cancer. The neighborhood was out of baseball on that cold November day. No one was playing at Franz Sigel Park or John Mullaly Park. And there wasn’t even a game of catch in Joyce Kilmer Park. The last game at the old Yankee Stadium was long gone and Opening Day at the new Yankee Stadium was long off.

So I went home and wished for one of those summer days when I was a kid and my mother would send me to the ballpark with a paper sack stuffed with her famous tuna-fish sandwiches. That was back when you could slip through a delivery gate with the beer kegs and watch batting practice. And it was always okay to come home late with a beat-up scorecard and popcorn stuck between your teeth.

The doctor told me that tomorrow’s surgery and chemotherapy treatment might keep me in the hospital for 10 days.

“At least it’s December,” I said. “There aren’t any ballgames to miss.”

And I will be ready to slip through a delivery gate with the beer kegs when the new Yankee Stadium opens. I’ll watch batting practice with one of my mother’s famous tuna-fish sandwiches and come home late with a beat-up scorecard and popcorn stuck between my teeth.

Cancer can’t change the way it will always be between baseball and me.

Here's the complete page when this was published...

Baseball matters. Watch the game tonight, and have fun with it. Its your hobby, or it's not your hobby, it's your fun time. Enjoy the All-Star Game. Bet ya Todd Drew will be watching it with one of his mother's famous tuna-fish sandwiches, rooting on Jeter and Texiera and the Mariano.