Why Baseball Matters
There was no doubt in my mind that a picture of the damaged building on East 72nd Street would occupy the front page of the New York Times this morning. I was not surprised to see an array of articles about Cory Lidle, the man, Cory Lidle the pitcher and even Cory Lidle the pilot. As expected there were the comments from his teammates, from Damon, Giambi and Jeter, from former teammates, from coaches and from friends. They also all said what I expected, how suddenly things can change, what a great competitor he was, how sorry they are for his wife and young son.
Everything I read was exactly what I had anticipated, except for one thing. In his column, "New York Baseball, Upside Down," in the New York Times sports section, Dave Anderson printed this quote from Rick Peterson, one of Lidle's coaches in Oakland.
For those who don't know, Rick Peterson is the pitching coach for the New York Mets, who are about to play in the first game of the NLCS tonight, and who are in contention to win their first World Series in twenty years. For Mets fans and baseball fans around the country Lidle's death is a tragedy and yet these same fans would not hesitate to answer Peterson's question; this game is still very important.
I don't mean that this one game is important, although it is, just ask Tom Glavine, who, under Anderson's tutelage, is about to start tonight's game. I mean that sports are worthwhile and important to this country, particularly baseball, and they are important all the time. Their importance should not be qualified by how recently a local or even national tragedy took place, and their ability to heal should not be overlooked.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped convince commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis that baseball should be played during WWII. When Phillip Wrigley, namesake of the field and the gum, realized that baseball players would be called on to fight, he helped found the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, so that people would still have games to attend.
Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. That was seven years before Brown v. The Board of Education struck down 'separate but equal.' By that baseball season, 1954, ten other teams had drafted African American players.
Five years ago, on September 17, 2001, baseball resumed, despite the fact that the US had suffered a national tragedy only six days before. There were hundreds of articles written about this issue, many suggesting that the season should be canceled. Commissioner Bud Selig's motivation for continuing play? "We wanted to be not only sensitive, but we wanted to play our small role in the recovery process."
To contend that when priorities are adjusted we might reconsider the importance of baseball and sports more generally does a disservice the the ways in which team sports have helped bring people together and countries back to life. It's what the Olympics can do for a city's economy. It's watching a World Cup team win over the team of its former colonial ruler.
I seriously doubt that Rick Peterson meant anything by his statement, which was undoubtedly just his emotional reaction to the loss of a friend. Still, if Cory Lidle was truly as passionate about baseball as his teammates say he was, I doubt that he would have wanted anything except for the game to go on.
Everything I read was exactly what I had anticipated, except for one thing. In his column, "New York Baseball, Upside Down," in the New York Times sports section, Dave Anderson printed this quote from Rick Peterson, one of Lidle's coaches in Oakland.
"It's like a surreal moment, I think it just goes to show how insignificant some of the things that we think are significant really are when this comes down to the fact that we're about to play a baseball game and how important is that, really?"
For those who don't know, Rick Peterson is the pitching coach for the New York Mets, who are about to play in the first game of the NLCS tonight, and who are in contention to win their first World Series in twenty years. For Mets fans and baseball fans around the country Lidle's death is a tragedy and yet these same fans would not hesitate to answer Peterson's question; this game is still very important.
I don't mean that this one game is important, although it is, just ask Tom Glavine, who, under Anderson's tutelage, is about to start tonight's game. I mean that sports are worthwhile and important to this country, particularly baseball, and they are important all the time. Their importance should not be qualified by how recently a local or even national tragedy took place, and their ability to heal should not be overlooked.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped convince commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis that baseball should be played during WWII. When Phillip Wrigley, namesake of the field and the gum, realized that baseball players would be called on to fight, he helped found the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, so that people would still have games to attend.
Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. That was seven years before Brown v. The Board of Education struck down 'separate but equal.' By that baseball season, 1954, ten other teams had drafted African American players.
Five years ago, on September 17, 2001, baseball resumed, despite the fact that the US had suffered a national tragedy only six days before. There were hundreds of articles written about this issue, many suggesting that the season should be canceled. Commissioner Bud Selig's motivation for continuing play? "We wanted to be not only sensitive, but we wanted to play our small role in the recovery process."
To contend that when priorities are adjusted we might reconsider the importance of baseball and sports more generally does a disservice the the ways in which team sports have helped bring people together and countries back to life. It's what the Olympics can do for a city's economy. It's watching a World Cup team win over the team of its former colonial ruler.
I seriously doubt that Rick Peterson meant anything by his statement, which was undoubtedly just his emotional reaction to the loss of a friend. Still, if Cory Lidle was truly as passionate about baseball as his teammates say he was, I doubt that he would have wanted anything except for the game to go on.
