"It's our game…America's game," Walt Whitman wrote. "It has the snap, go, fling of the American atmosphere; it belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly as our Constitution's laws; is just as important in the sum total of our historic life."
Today, Whitman's beautiful words continue to ring loudly and truly. America, reaching for strength and honor after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and searching for answers as it now faces war in Iraq, embraces the game that has molded the fabric of our lives. An intersection of time and hope, baseball captivates young and old, male and female, and exudes the very essence of American pride with every pitch.
As the baseball world, indeed America, held its collective breath over labor disputes and exciting pennant races in the waning months of the 2002 season, our country memorialized two patriots of the game and celebrated the success of a first-time World Series champion. Now, as fans flock to ballparks nationwide for opening day ceremonies, America yearns for a hopeful 2003 season.
Our nation was saddened upon hearing the news that longtime St. Louis Cardinals' broadcaster Jack Buck had passed away on June 18, 2002. As the story spread from baseball town to baseball fan, America remembered that this was the same man whose golden voice had welcomed fans back to baseball parks nationwide days after the September 11 attacks. Buck's answer to the question, "Should we be here?" will forever reign as words of triumph in the hearts and souls of Americans. "Yes!" boomed a resilient Buck, who made his patriotic announcement from the playing field at Busch Stadium. The resulting standing ovation, which rattled the rafters of one of America's greatest baseball venues, was an example of America's perseverance, a displayed expression that symbolized the epitome of our nation's pastime and upheld the reality of the American Dream.
Then, days before the 2002 mid-summer classic, baseball's brightest star faded at the age of 83. Ted Williams, the "Splendid Splinter," was to baseball what Thomas Jefferson was to the United States. A man of special vision and extraordinary talent, Williams has been considered by many baseball historians as the best hitter of all time, the founding father of baseball's sweetest trait. Outspoken and misunderstood by fans and media alike, the Boston Red Sox slugger was nevertheless a beloved player who, like Jefferson, leaves a legacy that grows larger and more enticing after death.
October gave way to the underdog Anaheim Angels, who rallied from sure defeat to claim the 2002 World Series as America witnessed the purity of baseball and experienced the idea that "hope springs eternal." A true American victory in a truly American game helped ease the pain of our country in 2002 just as it has before and as it will in the future.
Indeed, baseball, a relatively simple game, offers a comfort of continuity that transcends the American landscape. Community, family, and time relent to our nation's game in a manner so freely that America's spirit echoes through the hallowed fields of neighborhood backyards and in manicured professional ballparks with the same enthusiasm that helped build this great country. In 2003, America embraces baseball because once again our country depends on our pastime to provide balance for us during contemporary problems. Though we find ourselves in the midst of uncertainty, baseball stands steadfastly as a pillar of stability that helps America to endure.
-- Jeff Mitchell
