It's a beautiful day in San Francisco. Clear skies, 60 degrees, the streets are a sea of orange and black. I'm in my jeans and orange and black t-shirt. Not my normal attire for the middle of the week, but this is the day of the parade. The San Francisco Giants Parade. The 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants!
I never really understood baseball, I don't think I understand it all even now. It was my my 6 year old son who first took an interest in the game. He told me once that his favorite sound is the the sound of baseball. The sound of the ball hitting the bat and the cheer of the crowd that follows. So I watched the games with him. When we get home in the afternoon, he asks me to turn on the TV and put the game on. We watched our home team, the SF Giants. Then one evening I was watching the Giants and the Dodgers on television I got it. I was hooked. This is a most interesting game. Think about it. Offense: The hitter doesn't always score, most of the time he strikes out. If he hits the ball, he doesn't have to hit a home run for the team to score, if he has a base hit, that's good enough, it's up to the rest of his team to follow through. Sometimes you have the bases loaded but if your final hitter doesn't get it right, that's the end of the inning, then you have to start all over again. Defense: The beautiful thing is the defense controls the game. It's all about pitching. Oh, but a great catch is so much fun to watch. The acrobatics that some catchers have to perform to get to the ball and keep it in their glove. Ohhhh and what a disappointment if catch isn't made or the ball is dropped. What made it even more interesting to me was watching the 2009-2010 San Francisco Giants. The Giants almost did not make it to the post season, and when they did, they were the underdog. No big stars in the team and their starters were players that were given up by other teams. I love it!
I'm a new fan, As you can tell by now, I don't know all the terminology. I don't know player stats. I don't know players outside of the Giants. Somehow this 2010 San Francisco Giants team appealed to my hopeful spirit, and got me hooked on this game that's a wonderful metaphor for life.
