Baseball

I only played baseball as a kid.  I never knew any other sport for a long time.  I have childhood memories of Yaz playing first base, as he finished his career, Dwight Evans and Jim Rice in the outfield and even, for a moment, "Pudge" Fisk behind home plate.  Yes, I am a Red Sox fan, but I appreciate the sport enough to understand that every once in a while a player comes along that is special and transcends fandom in the game.  Last weekend I was at my beloved Fenway Park when Derek Jeter played in his last series and it was something that I will remember.  It put into sharp focus just how historic and special Baseball is.

I do not hate the Yankees.  As a historian you have to appreciate what that team did for the game in the 1920s.  Indeed, the 1927 Yankees are considered the greatest team ever to take the field - even by today's standards.  The first six in the line-up were called "Murderer's Row" and included names such as Ruth and Gehrig.  I thought that the 2011 Red Sox, before their collapse, would be on par with this team so I followed the stats at the beginning of the season.  Not even close.

When Jeter came to the plate last Saturday, Fenway Park got to their feet and applauded the Yankee player that had been a part of our team's struggles in the 1999 and 2003 ALCS playoffs.  The crowd chanted "Derek Jeter."  He went 1 for 2 in that game and did the same thing on Sunday, his last game of his career.  That brings me back to the history of the game and why this is so important.  Jeter is a baseball legend and the crowd at Fenway (though there were a lot of Yankee fans there) acknowledged his contributions and recognized that baseball is bigger than rivalries.

Fenway park is one of the oldest parks in the major leagues.  Since it was built in 1912 it has witnessed many historic events beginning with America on the precipice of a new role in the world and moving through world wars, depressions, smaller conflicts and even national tragedies.  I recently saw a picture of John F. Kennedy, a young congressman from the eleventh district at the time, with Ted Williams, Eddie Pelagrini and Hank Greenberg (of Detroit) in the dugout.  The image of this young leader in the late forties, who would someday inspire so many, brought into sharp focus that Baseball tends to capture all that is good in America.  The integration of the sport with the immortal Jackie Robinson is yet another example where America grew up a little.  Indeed, it was arguably the first time the nation was rooting for an African American to succeed - and the world was watching.

Baseball has always been there, for the momentous events and terrible crises that this nation has endured over the years.  It is linked to our own history in ways that other celebrated sports in this country is not.  For many years it was believed that Abner Doubleday, a Civil War hero who fought at Gettysburg, was it's founder.  Last Saturday, I witnessed history again when Derek Jeter played in his second to last game.  The next day, watching from my living room, I saw him take his last trot from first base to the dugout, as he was taken out of the game after his last hit.  It occurred to me that a Yankee great was making his exit from the game on the same field that a former Yankee great made his debut in 1914 at the age of 19.  The former Yankee stadium may have been the "House That Ruth Built" but Babe Ruth took his first major league swing at Fenway Park - and Jeter took his last there.