Batting Around
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I experienced my first major league baseball game when I was less than a month old. My parents had no AC in our apartment, and decided that if they were going to be gross and sweaty, they might as well be at the ballpark. Hence, I literally grew up with baseball, crawling around the lovable dump of a stadium they named for William A. Shea, the man who brought the National League back to the city it had abandoned.
By the third grade, I started reading the Times sports section every morning at breakfast, and my mother quickly learned to "yes" me to death while I recounted the recap of last night's Mets game. I had a massive baseball card collection. I read baseball books. It was, in a word, precocious.
With that as a base, my friends often turned to me to solve their baseball disputes because I knew things like batting averages and career numbers and could lay out exactly why Ken Griffey Jr. was so effing awesome. Now that I'm two internships and a job into a baseball career, people use me to test arguments on things like who should be in the Hall and the personnel moves their teams are/should be making. This allows them to turn around and be that guy that knows things when they talk to their other friends.
My mother recently had reason to tap into my store of baseball knowledge. A former coworker was troubled because her 7-year-old said he was so mad at Barry Bonds for taking steroids that he "wanted to shoot him." The coworker wanted to discuss how something besides anger - disappointment? - could be fueling this, but didn't know enough about the situation to do so. Enter mi madre, who asked if I could draft up an e-mail to the wee one.
I sent this (minus some edits to protect my job, ha):
> Dear Billy, > > My mom told me that you like baseball. I do, too - I've been going to Mets games since I was only a month old. I never really played, but I've gotten to cover it as a sports writer for MLB.com. And for the past year, I've been a writer at the Baseball Hall. > > I understand you are angry with Barry Bonds because he takes steroids. Having learned as much about baseball history as I have this year, it makes me angry, too. Statistics in baseball mean more than in any other pro sport, and this recent era of athletes using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs throws all the numbers out of whack. But when it comes to Bonds, I'm really just disappointed more than anything else. He was such a good player before 1999 - winning three MVPs and being the only person to hit 400 home runs AND steal 400 bases - that he would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer if his career had ended then. > > But because athletes are under so much pressure, and such high scrunity, Bonds felt like he needed to take steroids to prove he really was the best player in the game today. It's too bad, because he already was. Instead of only thinking about how Barry rates against the other best players, now you have to talk about steroids and their affect on his numbers. That's sad for Bonds' legacy, and for baseball as a whole. Bonds passing Hank Aaron's home run record should be cause for celebration, and now I'm just hoping nobody pays it any attention. > > The thing to remember is that athletes are people, too. They just have a really cool job. They've got to pay bills and take care of their kids and take out the trash and remember to call their mom. And they can have their feelings hurt and get jealous, just like we can. But you should know it's definitely okay to admire how good they are at playing sports - I love watching Jose Reyes run the bases or Derek Jeter stare down a pitcher when the game is on the line - and also their dedication and work ethic - you can't just make the major leagues by being talented, you also have to practice a LOT. > > I hope you're able to still be a baseball fan, even though some of the players make bad decisions. Even though I'm disappointed in him, I can still appreciate watching Barry Bonds hit, because he's got such a good batting eye and still possesses the swing that made him a great player even before he chose to use steroids. It's a bittersweet situation, but I like baseball too much to let it go because of some of the players. MLB is finally trying hard to clean up its act, and I've got great hope for the future. Players like Bonds are going to retire, but baseball will keep coming back for another 162 games. Hopefully, you do too. > > Sincerely, The Brooklyn Boy
My mom did the mom thing and said I made her cry, and I didn't think about it much afterwards. A few weeks later, I get a letter at work, and the company boilerplate in the return address is crossed out, with a replacement name below. I crack it open, and there's a page of penmanship paper with the inconsistent spacing and shape inherent in children's handwriting:
> Dear Brooklyn, Now a lot of baseball players take steroids. You do not have to be sad about Barry Bonds. Love, Billy
I'm not sad about Bonds, but I am sad baseball disillusioned a young fan. Some world we live in, turning 7-year-olds into hardened cynics.
