Control of the Remote

  A few days ago I found myself enjoying a quiet early afternoon in the trailer.  Sitting at the dinette, remote in hand I began looking through the many channels available from Direct TV.  The block of kids' entertainment channels gets a lot of play in our house along with occasional A & E programming.  Since the quality of A & E programming has dropped over the last few years our guide tends to stay of the family entertainment  channels.  Nothing wrong with that.  I thoroughly enjoy watching  Toot play her toy drums and keyboard along with the clever tunes of the Fresh Beat Band.  Georgia and I have had many laughs at the expense of Patrick and Spongebob, Timmy Turner and Spencer Shay.  I really don't tire of the kids' television programs.  They are on most of the day and many times it's just background noise as we do other things around the house.  

  It dawned on me that since both girls were outside enjoying the sunshine and soft grass as they ran and played with their cousins, I had control of our remote.  I could turn the tv to any station I wanted.  The sun, warm weather and kids finishing the school year were indicative of one thing: baseball season had been underway and I was missing it. This was my chance to turn the station to, dare I say...MLBN or ESPN in the serene comfort of the dining room, which by the way is the best and most comfortable seat in the house, while the kids were outside running off their seemingly endless supply of kid energy.  

  I quickly found channel 213 and familiarized myself with an hour long highlights show called Quick Pitch.  It wasn't long until I found myself virtually mesmerized by the latest happenings in what has always been my favorite sport.  I am a little embarrassed to say I have been out of the baseball loop since about 1998.  At that time I followed the Atlanta Braves with a baseball magnifying glass.  They were at that time, in my opinion the best regular season team around and masters of coming back from behind to win a game at the last minute.  Bobby Cox and pitching coach,  Leo Mazzone, nervous rocking and all, were a matchless pair of coaches.  The talent and skill in their line up included  young upstart Andruw Jones, Tommy "Gun" Glavine, fresh faced, and to this day a personal favorite, Chipper Jones and the Big Cat, Andres Galaraga who held the record at that time for most hits on his arm while up to bat.  (Intimidated pitcher anyone??)  Their games always kept me on the edge of my seat.

  One summer week end in 1998 I had the heavenly pleasure of seeing my Bravos play at Turner field.  The first night they opposed the Dodgers.  This was back when Mike Piazza was still behind the plate.  Pitcher for LA....drum roll please...Hideo Nomo.  He was pitted against Greg Maddux and his personal catcher Eddie Perez. It was most certainly the quintessential pitcher's duel.  The following night I saw my team go up against the Giants.  I remember being so close to Barry Bonds that I was rendered somewhat speechless. I can't remember who pitched for each team that second night.  I would have to dig out the pictures from those nights that are securely tucked away in my bedroom closet at home to jog my memory.  But what I do remember was that night two in Turner field was a slug fest with scores approaching double digits. 

  Baseball was always a popular sport in my house.  Growing up in Dayton in the 70's we had many a Big Red Machine game on the console tv.   I can remember a dive or two by Pete Rose into home plate.  It always looked so painful and yet impressive.  Cesar Geronimo's name itself impressed me too back then.  I remember wondering if he was really an American Indian.  But, to this day, no one has impressed me more than #5, Johnny Bench.  I could go on and on about the trivia that rattles around in my head about this catcher who revolutionized his position.  His one handed catching has been copied by many Bench wanna- bes.  His accuracy and record-holding speed of the ball to second base has not been matched even by the likes of the "heart and soul" of the Yankees Thurman Munson or Ivan "Pudge" Rodreguiz. 

  Somewhere around 1975 and 1976 my grandfather took all of us kids to see the Reds play at what was then Riverfront Stadium.  The only player I can remember seeing fairly close was George Foster.  He must have been having an off season because my grandpa was unhappy to see him in the left field.  Even at 5 and 6 years old the game intrigued me.  I like suspense.  And this game has always kept me in suspense.  To see what the pitchers would throw and how the batters would react was thrilling.  And the signals passed from catcher to pitcher and from coaches to the players in the field was like a secret language in which I wished I was fluent.  As I watched the hosts of Quick Pitch all of those memories came flooding back and George Foster's image in the outfield was very fresh in my mind 35+ years later.

  I've recorded a few ball games and highlight shows recently and at my leisure I've been able to catch up on the Braves, Reds, Yankees and Mets.  I've enjoyed watching the new-to-me players.  My current interests lie in the talents of R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana.  I'll be keeping my eye on newbies like Bryce Harper and old favorites like Kevin Millwood.  It's been fun catching up on America's favorite past time.  The best part...Georgia expressed an interest in buying a couple of gloves and a ball to pass around with me.  

Yes, life is good.  And so is baseball.