Today I am one of the bleary eyed Minnesotans who feel as if they personally played 12 innings of a professional baseball game last night. As we watched our beloved Twins throw, catch, hit and run their way to last night's win, it was a glorious time to see the excitement and pride that happens in such an event. With each pitch, each hit, each run, I practically felt it in my own body, the tension and excitement of a a well played game. We actually watched the game at a local restaurant and I have to say I left that place feeling as if I had been at a family reunion in which I knew no one's name. I high-fived and clapped hands with total strangers who didn't seem that way at all. We were united in the love of the game, the love of the team.
At some point over the last weeks, while watching this team crawl back toward a winning season, I began to think about what it must be like to be an adult who plays a sport for a living. For instance, does Joe Maurer ever wake up and say,"Oh, no, I have to play baseball again today.", the way others do in their work? Does it ever become boring, hum-drum? I guess I want to believe that, like any job, there are days when these grown men want to call in sick, take the day off, take a 'mental health' day. But somehow it is difficult to believe, isn't it?
Last night as they ran out onto the field after more than five hours of playing the game they love, skipping, hugging, jumping on one another like bear cubs, I saw in them the nine-year-old boys that dreamed of a day just like this one. A day when they would be triumphant while doing what they love most…playing baseball. This simple game of pitch, hit, run, catch, is so much more and last night's game was a perfect example of the strategy involved.In the end, I imagine these men play because they recognize the privilege of being able to do so or I hope that is the case. They also, I would imagine, recognize that the ability to play the game it fleeting and so the joy becomes greater with each day, with each game. It is a joy to watch.And for those of us who are the fans, there is also something that connects us to these players getting to do what they love. It is the nine year old in each of us who once had a dream that we would spend our adult days in the pursuit of that thing that gave us the most joy…..dancing, singing, flying, painting, running, playing…whatever it is. Vicariously, we are reminded of that sheer possibility that was once ours and, perhaps, still is.
Go Twins!
"Tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"~Mary Oliver