Forty-eight days until pitchers and catchers … and here’s your daily splash of joy.
Why do you love baseball?
Brilliant Reader David: “My brother and I drove from Chicago to Atlanta to see Henry Aaron hit his 715th. Camping in the rain in the Smokeys … eating grits for the first time … finding seats in straight-away center. We now have a personal bond that lives forever.”
Brilliant Reader Scott: “The ballpark organ, in particular at Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, or Dodger Stadium.”
Brilliant Reader Michael: “It cracks me up when all concerned are covering their mouths with their gloves at a meeting on the mound. I always wonder if the pitchers grow addicted to this practice and start to do it in their private lives.”
Brilliant reader Mark: Croix de Candlestick (In French- The Cross of Candlestick) was a special pin awarded by the Giants to fans who stayed for extra-inning night games at the notoriously cold and windy Candlestick Park. The pin featured the SF logo with snow and the Latin motto "Veni, Vidi, Vixi" ("I came, I saw, I survived").
Joe: This pin is the coolest thing, and it makes me realize (again) just how easy it would be for Major League teams to make each game feel more special and memorable for fans. How much could a pin like that cost to make? How much could any token of appreciation cost?
One of my favorite things in entertainment over the last few years was Tom Cruise doing a heartfelt little “thank you for coming to the movies” to appear before the second Top Gun. I guess others have done it since then (and Cruise himself now regularly does it before his films), and those are fine too, but the first time he personally thanked us for coming to see the movie, it made me think: “Yeah, that’s nice. He really does appreciate our business.”
MLB Owners are TERRIBLE at making fans feel that way.
And I think, alas, it’s because too many of them DO NOT appreciate our business.
And they should. They really should. There are so many easy ways to do so.
If you would like to send in the reason why you love baseball, we’d love to hear it. And in that spirit, we’re also now collecting photos and artwork too — old snapshots, ballpark scenes, favorite scorecards, kids’ drawings, ticket stubs, whatever captures the joy of the game for you. Some people are sending song lyrics. Some are sending poems. It’s utterly wonderful. Just send along your baseball joy to [email protected].
