Thursday, October 22, 2009

I Am Not a Fan

I am not a fan of baseball, though I have liked one or two players, in my day. For example, I dated a baseball player in college. And even though I never met him, my love for his family makes me a fan of Moe Drabowsky. And I supported David's love for his Little League team, and attended all of his games, because of my love for him. So I don't dislike the players, but I think the sport could use a few of my ideas for improvement.

For example, please lose:  the spitting. The public scratching of private places. The long pauses. The polyester.

My intense dislike of baseball started during my first marriage...to a baseball fanatic. It's safe to say that this man loved baseball more than he loved many things in life, including me. He certainly preferred it to - let's call it romance. (That's a euphemism, my friends, but let's call it that, because my son might read this someday.)

Since I was a "nice girl," he was my first - and I intended him to be my ONLY. But as the marriage went on, I saw that I would never be, to him, what I desired to be, to my husband. I could not compete with the box scores. I was no match for the excitement of the Red Sox. The Green Monster was one of my enemies. Not another woman, but baseball itself, became a focus for my jealous emotions. It wasn't the only problem; it was simply something on which I could FOCUS my disappointment and frustration. I was unhappy, and then angry, and then, very, VERY UNHAPPY.

We eventually divorced. I've not liked baseball since.

So imagine my surprise at finding an article about baseball that I not only enjoyed, but that illuminated some of the finer points of strategy for me! It's about the pitcher vs. the batter, and is in the magazine called THE WEEK, in the October 23rd issue. The title of the article is "Who Owns Home Plate?" and is an excerpt from a new book by Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson called Sixty Feet, Six Inches. It's really fascinating. I recommend it to anyone, even someone who doesn't like baseball.


And I am now married to a man who loves me, much more than baseball. (Don't you just love a happy ending?)

14 comments:

ChiTown Girl said...

What an interesting post. I wasn't aware there was a first husband. I'm sorry things didn't work out, but I'm even happier that you then found The One!!

I, too, married my "first" and obviously also thought he'd be the ONLY. Funny how things work out, isn't it? I guess whether it's baseball or other women that are put ahead of you, the pain is the same. I only hope that one day I'll find someone as wonderful as your husband!

Elizabeth said...

This is a great post. And I get The Week and would NEVER have read that article. Now I will. Both my boys play baseball and love it, and now so does my Swiss husband. I doubt that I'll ever like it, though, but maybe, perhaps I will learn a little about it.

And Oh, La, LA! You have a "past" -- that's what I say about myself when people learn about my very brief first marriage!

Elizabeth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

In my first marriage, my wife brought her knitting to the ballpark. I thought it was great. Over the years, I've been to a handful of boring ballgames where I wished I was knitting a nice wool sweater there behind home plate.

Cassandra said...

You always get me thinking about things I never anticipate. I love baseball and have loved it since I was a little girl. My dream job as a young girl was to be a National League umpire, but that was not to be since girls did not do that then (or now, really). I agree that some of the gross "boy" behavior should be minimized, but overall I love the strategy and the focus and the complexity of the game. And I heard a clip on NPR about that book and it seems very interesting indeed.

My husband and I really bonded over baseball and he was impressed that I knoew so much about the game. It's been one of the great joys of our marriage. In fact, on the day that I was diagnosed with cancer--2.5 years ago--we had tickets that evening for a Mets-Yankees game (this is huge). We still went to the game because what else were we going to do--sit at home and think about cancer??! Would not attending the game cure the cancer? SO we went and had a great time and luckily the Mets won, or else the day would have REALLY sucked :)

Thanks for the post.

Cassandra

Busy Bee Suz said...

I do love happy endings. Especially yours.
I could not imagine a man stupid enough to choose a spectator sport over his wife, his VERY lovely wife. But apparently, he was not worthy of your love and devotion. I am sure he is miserable right now, or making someone else miserable.

ps. I loathed football for a looooong time because my dad was such an avid enthusiast. But he did not watch it in joy, it usually angered him so much he would go into a rage. yes, he was a bit loco. Coach loves his Dolphins, but never gets angry, he is overjoyed on occasion, and disappointed too, but never like my Dad. I even catch myself watching with him on occasion. Shocker.

Pam said...

I've asked my hubby about the spitting more than once... why??? I don't run around spitting all the time.. or EVER... what's up with that? Never mind the scratching and all that jazz! : P My hubby isn't married to sports... he's married to ME! I'm glad you found your happy ending! : )

Lakeland Jo said...

We have plenty of people here in the UK who are in the same position that you found yourself in, in your first marriage. I am fortunate that although other half likes soccer, it is only an interest and not an obsession!

Karen said...

Well, I like baseball pretty well because we raised our children attending Dodger games. Of course, the males in our family took it all much more seriously than the females (that means they swung between euphoria and despondency depending on where the Dodgers were in the standings.) When our son grew up, he continued to be a huge fan along with his friends. The night after his memorial service we went with about 30 people to a game in his honor. You've inspired me to write about it on my blog.

As for you, that picture in your post says it all. You are so gorgeous and such an amazing woman, I am stunned that husband 1 could have missed that. He certainly didn't deserve YOU!!! Husband 2, on the other hand, hit a home run and knows it. Smart guy!!

Maggie May said...

Great post, great story. And apparently, great marriage too.:)

Mary said...

I'm catching up on your posts. Congrats to David on the Viking award! The gathering at your house looked and sounded perfect. As much as preparations for big events are time-consuming I'm always so happy to have a house full of guests.

re: baseball -- My husband likes to tell the story of how I stopped to buy stockings on the way to our first pro baseball game and then read a book through the whole thing. Now though, with Abe playing on little league and tournament teams I am the loudest fan out there. Still don't know that much about the game -- just hte very basics. Thanks for the article and book tip. I bet a few people in our house would love it!

Clippy Mat said...

hooray for happy endings.
much deserved happy endings.
sorry for your ex, he made a BIG mistake, but his loss was your gain.
:-)

Jason, as himself said...

I don't like baseball either. Or any spectator sport, to tell you the truth. I just don't get the point! I don't understand how people can invest so much time and ENERGY into a team doing something that is so pretend and so unimportant when there are so many real and important things to be doing. And the anger! The anger some fans feel when their team loses or another team does something that they don't like. I just don't get it.

I'm so glad you found a man that deserves you! He's very lucky.

Renee said...

I am not a fan of baseball either but I am a huge fan of happy endings.

Love Renee xoxo