Baseball has always been a time honored tradition within not just my family but across most of America and yes, with all this talk of steroids baseball has taken a downward turn. More and more people have turned away and families are turning to other sports to take that it’s place. But, maybe that’s because the families are not what they used to be either. Once upon a time it was about family and traditions growing up going to baseball games and learning about the players of the past. Now families don't spend the time together like they should.
I know it's going to be important to me to tell my kids about the significance of Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez, telling them just as much about Joey Cora as I do about Ken Griffey Jr…
Telling them about Kaz, Hasagawa and Ichiro.
Explain the significance of Randy Johnson, and how we got Fredy Garcia which in turn has brought us Franklin Gutierrez.
I know that its not just steroids, it’s not just the floundering family, as my grandfather pointed out it’s also the price of tickets going through the roof. The fact that the family experience itself is marred by the ability to spend less than 200$ on a night out for the family.
Yes this isn’t anything you’ve never heard before, but let me explain to you why, it’s important to me.
Growing up there are two things that got me and my Dad(Mike) through the years of living together. One of those things is baseball, the tradition of going and sitting in right field and watching Jay and Junior patrol the out field astro turf in the Kingdome.
While, my dad didn’t talk to me about who Alvin Davis was or the importance of Harold Reynolds or Mark Langston, or that Gaylord Perry got his 300th as a Mariner. He took me to games, he encouraged and facilitated that love of the game. He didn’t grow up a baseball fan in fact I’ pretty sure he never had watched a game by himself, but because of me he drew himself into the game. This brought me so much closer to the game and so much closer to him. It also is a big part of our current relationship.
Finding out just three short months ago that I had a little brother has meant so much to me in so many different ways but this new found rivalry of brother-brother. It’s amazing to me. To find another person that has the same same view points, their brain and though process works so very similar and then of course the humor of it all is equally shared. While building such an relationship can be so very tough and at certain times awkward. Having a common bound of baseball brings our relationship to new level, it gives us something to pick on each other about and it gives us something help us understand each other. It establishes a special point-of-view that can only be understood by a fellow enthusiasts that has just as much invested in their own team. Don’t get me wrong, I love my new found siblings all three of them just as equally (actually Hayley is a big Ichiro fan so there is a bit of an edge there) but that love of the game bring to new life and a new perspective to our relationship.
Now, with as much as I brought baseball to my dad, my dad brought me to star trek. Oddly he says he never watched the original generation of Spock and Kirk. He had scene the movies but never watched the TV show. Well until the next generation, the birth of captain Picard brought a new mariner into our lives. The mariner of space and it’s final frontier. The stories of the USS Enterprise crew and missions. The cult phenomenon of the Klingons, the fear of the Borg taking over all life in the galaxy and conquering free thoughts and individuality, and then the unique situations of the federation seeking out new life and new civilizations.
As important as baseball was to the father-son relationship the introduction to star trek was just as much an important piece of the puzzle. Between these two vitally important pieces were what my father and I built my relationship upon. Now, as I said before I have new found family and I am blessed beyond measure with the opportunity to have two dads. While mike was there for me through my youth I have Howard that is also in the picture and just as important to me. Please don’t misunderstand me when I write this. Howard and I have a lot of history together in our future. However, this isn’t about the future it’s about the past. It’s about the redeeming qualities of that has built up relations.
Star Trek itself was the first “adult” tv show I ever watched with my dad. In fact to top that my dad and I have only gone to 5 movies as guys night out. star trek VI, star trek: generations, star trek: first contact, the matrix, star trek: insurrection. I don’t count the half movie of Ghostbusters that we walked out on because it was too scary for me. Seriously that happened.
My wife and I recently went to the new Star Trek movie staring the new cast and a reboot of the series. This brought up the thought I had never seen a star trek movie without my dad. I mean I had watch a few of the movies on my own. But, when watching a movie for the first time it was always with him. I even waited to watch star trek nemesis till I could come home and watch it with him.
While there is all these problems with families and economic issues detracting from the way we view life anymore. It made me think of why baseball was so important to me, and it reminded me of what got me through my teenage years and what has helped nurture family relationships.
I know it's going to be important to me to tell my kids about the significance of Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez, telling them just as much about Joey Cora as I do about Ken Griffey Jr…
Telling them about Kaz, Hasagawa and Ichiro.
Explain the significance of Randy Johnson, and how we got Fredy Garcia which in turn has brought us Franklin Gutierrez.
I know that its not just steroids, it’s not just the floundering family, as my grandfather pointed out it’s also the price of tickets going through the roof. The fact that the family experience itself is marred by the ability to spend less than 200$ on a night out for the family.
Yes this isn’t anything you’ve never heard before, but let me explain to you why, it’s important to me.
Growing up there are two things that got me and my Dad(Mike) through the years of living together. One of those things is baseball, the tradition of going and sitting in right field and watching Jay and Junior patrol the out field astro turf in the Kingdome.
While, my dad didn’t talk to me about who Alvin Davis was or the importance of Harold Reynolds or Mark Langston, or that Gaylord Perry got his 300th as a Mariner. He took me to games, he encouraged and facilitated that love of the game. He didn’t grow up a baseball fan in fact I’ pretty sure he never had watched a game by himself, but because of me he drew himself into the game. This brought me so much closer to the game and so much closer to him. It also is a big part of our current relationship.
Finding out just three short months ago that I had a little brother has meant so much to me in so many different ways but this new found rivalry of brother-brother. It’s amazing to me. To find another person that has the same same view points, their brain and though process works so very similar and then of course the humor of it all is equally shared. While building such an relationship can be so very tough and at certain times awkward. Having a common bound of baseball brings our relationship to new level, it gives us something to pick on each other about and it gives us something help us understand each other. It establishes a special point-of-view that can only be understood by a fellow enthusiasts that has just as much invested in their own team. Don’t get me wrong, I love my new found siblings all three of them just as equally (actually Hayley is a big Ichiro fan so there is a bit of an edge there) but that love of the game bring to new life and a new perspective to our relationship.
Now, with as much as I brought baseball to my dad, my dad brought me to star trek. Oddly he says he never watched the original generation of Spock and Kirk. He had scene the movies but never watched the TV show. Well until the next generation, the birth of captain Picard brought a new mariner into our lives. The mariner of space and it’s final frontier. The stories of the USS Enterprise crew and missions. The cult phenomenon of the Klingons, the fear of the Borg taking over all life in the galaxy and conquering free thoughts and individuality, and then the unique situations of the federation seeking out new life and new civilizations.
As important as baseball was to the father-son relationship the introduction to star trek was just as much an important piece of the puzzle. Between these two vitally important pieces were what my father and I built my relationship upon. Now, as I said before I have new found family and I am blessed beyond measure with the opportunity to have two dads. While mike was there for me through my youth I have Howard that is also in the picture and just as important to me. Please don’t misunderstand me when I write this. Howard and I have a lot of history together in our future. However, this isn’t about the future it’s about the past. It’s about the redeeming qualities of that has built up relations.
Star Trek itself was the first “adult” tv show I ever watched with my dad. In fact to top that my dad and I have only gone to 5 movies as guys night out. star trek VI, star trek: generations, star trek: first contact, the matrix, star trek: insurrection. I don’t count the half movie of Ghostbusters that we walked out on because it was too scary for me. Seriously that happened.
My wife and I recently went to the new Star Trek movie staring the new cast and a reboot of the series. This brought up the thought I had never seen a star trek movie without my dad. I mean I had watch a few of the movies on my own. But, when watching a movie for the first time it was always with him. I even waited to watch star trek nemesis till I could come home and watch it with him.
While there is all these problems with families and economic issues detracting from the way we view life anymore. It made me think of why baseball was so important to me, and it reminded me of what got me through my teenage years and what has helped nurture family relationships.
Aww, what a well written piece.
ReplyDeletelove ya!
Aunt christy