Hall-of-Famer and #ForeverGiant Rogers Hornsby (1896-1963)
by DrLefty
I can’t believe it was just a week ago today that I was sitting in a Scottsdale hotel room, waiting to go to my first of two Cactus League games at Scottsdale Stadium.
It seems like a month ago. It seems like a different lifetime.
There are so many worse things to think about right now. People all over the world sick and dying from this virus. Worries about our own health and that of our loved ones. Economic worries, and I’m not talking about my 401k balance. I’m talking about arena and ballpark vendors and hourly workers on my campus and so many people who were already barely making ends meet. I’m thinking about small and large businesses taking horrendous hits, maybe even going belly-up, and all of the resulting pain that will cause. I’m thinking about people with health issues who don’t have adequate medical coverage. I know I’m one of the lucky ones, with a comfortable place to live, a steady paycheck, and no kids at home anymore, and I’m already thinking about ways to help others who are not so lucky.
But here, in this space, we get to grieve for a moment over a spring without baseball.
We wait patiently all winter. We watch DVDs of old postseason games and baseball movies, we speculate about free agency, we celebrate Baseball Solstice during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We count down the days until pitchers and catchers report and until Opening Day.
And now, all of a sudden, we’re back to waiting. Social-distancing, mostly isolated in our homes, and with no baseball to divert us.
These are hard, strange times, maybe the strangest I’ve ever experienced in nearly 60 years of life. I was too young to be aware of our President’s assassination in 1963, and the only life experience I can compare this to is 9/11–but even that’s different. This COVID-19 illness affects everyone, everywhere. We need to help each other through it, practically, emotionally, and spiritually.
So I have some proposals for TWG while we’re waiting for baseball to come back.
- Be kind to each other in this space. We’re all anxious, we’re all on edge. Be kind, and if you slip up on being kind, apologize and forgive and try to put it behind us.
- Music videos, dog videos, best quarantine recipes–bring ’em on.
- Politics: Let’s stick to GG’s rules and keep it out of here or at least to a bare minimum. If political comments are made, see #1.
- Baseball: Feel free to nominate baseball-related topics, whether it’s great trivia questions, favorite game memories, interesting issues to discuss (for example, MLB teams sending minor leaguers home with no paychecks and no unemployment because they’re technically not unemployed), and so forth.
And please, if you’re a regular here, check in once or twice a week at least. I know many of us are in high-risk groups for the virus and/or have loved ones who are. We want to know you’re OK, and if you or a family member is not, we want to lift up prayers or best wishes.
I’ll keep posting at least once a week if I am able (i.e., not sick), though coming up with topics is going to be even harder than the dog days of early January. But I’ll try my best.
Finally: HaakAway is still running the My26ManGuy™ contest, and tomorrow night (March 15) is the deadline. Here’s a recent post from him about the rules and how to enter. C’mon, what else do you have to do?
Besides emailing HaakAway (mysfgiantguy@gmail.com), you can reply to any of his posts with your list.
Shout out to Ryan if you’re reading: Don’t leave us right now. You have a lot going on with your dad and the anniversary of your mom’s passing. You need us and we need you.
Love to all. Lefty out.