As we prepare for the start of the American League Wild Card series tonight between the forces of good--the Boston Red Sox--and the Evil Empire of New York, I wanted to share a favorite baseball yarn that I heard many years ago. This was told by the late, great Louis "Studs" Terkel about how much baseball has long meant to the American public, especially among those of us in Red Sox Nation:
"Back in the era just before and after World War II baseball was the most popular thing in America. Most big cities—which happened to have major league clubs—were full of immigrant families and people of all walks of life who were obsessed with baseball. There was once an Irishman who was such an obsessed baseball fan that the game was all he would discuss with his friends. Eventually, one of his friends told him that his fixation had gone too far.
To prove his
point, the friend asked the baseball-loving Irishman to imagine that he was out
for a boat ride with his father and Ted Williams. All of a sudden, the boat
sprung a leak and started sinking. Discovering that there was only one life
preserver aboard, would he throw it to Ted Williams or to his own father?
Without hesitating, the Irishman replied: “Are you kidding me? My father could barely hit .200!”
No comments:
Post a Comment