“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”
The morning is beautiful but the night chill lingers. It is 36°. The high will only be in the low 40’s. Today is opening day for baseball. It is the 123rd opening day for the Red Sox. The projections are the Sox will have another bad season like their last place finish in 2022. I am a Red Sox fan. I would say a die-heart fan, but every Red Sox fan is understood to be a die-hard fan. I’m going to wear my Red Sox shirt and watch the game. Our mantra is if we didn’t win this game, we’ll most assuredly win the next. Hope prevails in the psych of every Red Sox fan. We are all, in my family, Red Sox fans. Even in Colorado, the babies are born with an unseen but sensed decorative B on their onesies. They’ll cheer. We’ll all cheer. Go Sox!
I don’t wonder if I have taken the right paths in my life. I feel assured that I have. Some choices didn’t have the same sway as others, but they were still the right choices. Peace Corps was and is the defining choice in my life. Everything radiates from that. I lived in Africa. I still say that astonishingly.
I worked for thirty three years in the same school. I was in charge of discipline for many of those years. My kids were remarkable. My greatest joy was watching them mature into good people. They and I didn’t always agree, but I was in charge so they went along with me, sometimes begrudgingly, even angrily, but it was short-lived. It was in the moment. I used every strategy to help my kids succeed. Sometimes I’d keep them after school outside my office and make them do their homework. I remember one parent whose son was late all the time. She wanted help. I told her to disable his car which she paid for and she did just that. He came into my office screaming at me. I calmly told him to be on time so he could earn back his car. He was always on time after that. He got back his car. I always stopped fights. When the guys, as they were mostly guy fights, saw it was me, they stopped fighting. I was never afraid to jump right into the middle of the fracas.
I see my kids all over town. They stop to say hello. I don’t always remember their names, but I do remember their faces. Most times we hug. I am ever thankful for that choice.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: choices, hope, opening day, paths, Peace Corps Ghana, Red Sox fan
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March 30, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Hi Kat,
This afternoon, the brand new Texas Rangers open the 2023 season in Arlington Texas. There’s a chance of thunderstorms and the sky has been cloudy all day so the roof will remain closed for the game.
Only half of all the players remain from the 2022 debacle. We have a new general manager, a new field manger, two new coaches, and many new players. Additionally, we have new rules which I am not happy about. However, the real gods of baseball, the owners, obviously can’t generate enough revenue without the aid of a pitch clock to speed up the game and a rule against the shift to generate more action on the field. Larger bases is considered a safety rule change. Like the designated hitter rule, which I have opposed since the 1970s when the American League adopted it, we’ll all eventually get used to these changes.
On opening day hope always springs eternal in every major league ballpark that this will be the year that your team makes it through 168 game season, then through the playoffs to the fall classic, the World Series.
https://www.mlb.com/rule-changes-2023
“Play Ball”
March 30, 2023 at 4:19 pm
One Comment on “Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”
This quote came from the late Yogi Berra.
March 30, 2023 at 4:27 pm
I always put the source of each day’s quote under comments for the picture. You are right about this being a yogi Berra!
March 30, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Hi Bob,
The Red Sox are getting whomped 10-4. It is cold at the ballpark. Seats are empty. I would love to be there on an opening day but one with sun and a warm temperature.
We had the same debacle last year. In the off-season, the Sox let Bogarts go which is a huge mistake. He was a franchise player, a great hitter and a superb shortstop. I don’t know at least half of the current team.
The concessions stand did add new food this year, foods with a New England twist including a New England Maple Bacon Burger with Vermont cheddar cheese and a crab cake sandwich. They also added a new Grande Nacho topped with beef and guacamole. I think I’d go to try the food!!
I agree with the time changes. The games seemed to last eternally with pitchers getting off the mound and taking forever until the first pitch and the same with the the pitches in-between. Batters stopped the game and left the batters box to tighten their gloves and who knows what else. They could call time for as often as they chose at one at bat. I would think the owners would want a longer game to sell more refreshments and encourage visits to the shops. The Red Sox are notorious for long games.
So my Sox are 0-1 to start the season, not an illustrious beginning.
March 30, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Well, the Rangers won their home opener 11 to 7. I watched the end of the game after work. I didn’t notice much difference with the pitch clock or the anti-shift thing. As a mater of fact I didn’t even notice the count down timer on the TV screen which was located where the pitch count and outs are displayed. The game took a little over three hours for the Rangers to beat the Phillies. No game tomorrow, but they will play on Saturday and Sunday. BTW during the game they closed the roof, which takes 12 minutes, when they sky got threatening.
March 31, 2023 at 12:31 am
The Sox lost 10-9, but they made it exciting, nearly taking it in the bottom of the ninth. I know the announcers were keeping track of the clocks as they mentioned pitchers were close to the end of the count a few times.
No game Friday for the Sox either. I don’t know if they’ll play Saturday as rain is predicted.