Baseball non-fan visits Yankee Stadium

Field of Dreams

I'm still recovering from the weekend (and the intense week of work and commuting before it). Sunday was not a day of rest: I took my son, a 13-year-old baseball enthusiast, and two of his friends to Yankee Stadium to see the "Bombers" defeat the Texas Rangers. Not being much of a baseball or sports fan myself, I tend to find the spectators at such events far more interesting than the millionaires out on the field. It always strikes me as odd that people can become so passionate about an essentially meaningless ritual. The human ability for intense identification with people and activities that have nothing to do with one's own life always amazes me, though I'm "guilty" of it myself in other ways. I think it explains a lot about our popular culture, not to mention the current political scene. Escapism –- would life be bearable for any of us without at least a little of it? I participated in the ritual, by the way, clapping when everyone else did, standing up for home runs and the Star-Spangled warble, and even doing the "wave" with the rest of the crowd. Respect trumps sincerity.