my summer vacation

All of us can remember this essay at some point in our scholastic careers - How I Spent My Summer Vacation. And by now you've got a good handle on how I spent my summer vacation.

With kids begrudgingly back into the routine of school the thought occurred to me the other day why don't they ever ask you how you spent any other season? My default argument is that it's because baseball doesn't really happen during any other season. I will also argue that the Canadian summer is a unique experience. We see it coming with the first spring thaw and begin the countdown at March Break. Others hedge their hopes of a shortened winter on a chubby weather prognosticating rodent, Wiarton Willie.  Summer for us doesn't begin in June. It begins with the first 3 consecutive days above 10C. Regardless of when it happens. And if that happens to be in April? Giggity. It just became patio season. Spring does not exist in Canada. It is a fictional season brought to you by The GAP. Buy our clothes! Wear them for two weeks! Now pack them into the far reaches of your closet!

For two, maybe three months, or however long Mother Nature sees fit, we are afforded some time to ditch the toques and watch... ummm... baseball?? Then just as quickly as it comes, it goes. We then retreat to our igloos to sip double-doubles and watch Ron and Don wax political about the European invasion. On that note I give you this, one more time, because it is still oh so good...

 


Anyway, where was I? Oh yes - My summer solstice. Think for a second. Save for Christmas no one ever asked you how any other season went. Did you ever have to pen an essay entitled How I Spent My Fall Thinking Maybe This Would Be The Maple Leafs Year? Or its sister piece from the spring Well There's Always Next Year. Summer is different. And unfortunately, it is also now over.

9/11 - how baseball helped heal a city

In the wake of the 9th anniversary of 9/11 I was reminded of the events and how they affected the baseball world. For 6 days play was suspended. Baseball was a distraction. And this was not a time to be distracted. When your heart is broken, try as you might to avoid it, nothing can distract you from the hurt. Regardless of where home was for us, on this day we were all Americans.

Baseball returned to play on September 17, 2001 but it wasn't until September 21st that baseball returned to New York with a game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. (click on the link for a video tribute to that game) It was time for baseball to be a distraction again. It was time to begin the healing process and take a wounded nation away from the heartbreak, if but for a moment. What transpired was a game that will go down as a classic, if not stirring moment in the storied history of the game.

I'm not sure that any amount of writing I do can properly pay respect to the lives lost on that tragic day. What I can do though is tell you that how I will forever be moved by the sound of Ronan Tynan's rendition of God Bless America at Yankee Stadium. Let us all be grateful...

The Voice of God

Love them or hate them, the Yankees are a team rich in tradition. Two years ago I experienced some of this when I went to Yankee Stadium for my first and only visit to this historic building. You can't help but be struck by two things: the low ceilings in the concourses and some of the legends of the sport that played there.
    
Today, though, isn't so much about players like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, or Derek Jeter. It's about the man that was the voice of Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard. Sheppard died today, two months shy of his 100th birthday.

From 1951-2007 Sheppard's eloquent prose reverberated around Yankee Stadium. His voice was comforting, yet ominous, like a grandfather who didn't say much, but when he did you listened. Anyone who ever had the pleasure of experiencing this, be it on TV or live, can relate.  He was to the Yankees what Paul Morris was to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens for so many years. Hall of Famer, Reggie Jackson may have said it best when he dubbed Sheppard "the voice of God."

He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten. Next time you watch a Yankee game, listen to Derek Jeter being announced - that's a recording of Sheppard's voice - the voice of God talking to you.

Revered Yankees PA man Bob Sheppard, 99, dies - SI.com

Bernie Williams - Take Me Out To The Ballgame