Baseball

I love baseball. It has the rhythm of summer. It fosters conversation and discussion as the game unfolds. A friend took his son his family to a game. There was a boy seated in the row behind with his father. The kid spent the most of the game asking his father questions, all patiently answered, about this player or that rule. As it has been since the game was invented, as passing on religion.

A less kind analogous relationship is also evident. Over the last 50 years, some quarters of the Catholic Church decided that the Mass going crowd would need to be entertained if we are going to fill the pews. Out with all the formality, come as you are. Put a small rock band corner to provide a hipper musical setting. And make sure the homily is funny. Dumb it down. Same at the ballgame. Between every pitch the PA system blares out hideous music, or encourages the crowd the make noise. The goal seems to overwhelm the only thing we heard in days gone by the quiet murmur of the crowd. I saw a dad , carrying in his little girl at a recent game. It was between innings, and the PA system was screeching. The poor child was screaming, holding her ears. In the church, when the beauty left, so did the patrons. Baseball should take note.

If you are not at the game, baseball is so much better on the radio. The best radio commentators know how the paint a verbal picture of the action on the field. TV commentors, however, know we can see the game. They fill the air with nonsense. They should just shut up. In a positive move, I believe the Saturday national broadcast has no announcers, just the game. Maybe they are paying attention.