The Passing of Baseball's Better Days

When Mickey Mantle passed away in 1995, I vividly recalled a poignant eulogy delivered by that great sportscaster Bob Costas.

You can view the text to this eulogy by clicking on this blog's title.

This eulogy evokes such strong and lasting emotions and memories. Though I am not a Yankee fan and was too young to see Mantle play in his prime, his career obviously had an impact on many. My boyhood hero was Carl Yastremski who held his bat high over his head and took a "ferocious cut" at a pitch to his liking. I, too, emulated his stance, his mannerisms, his home plate routine, and that "ferocious cut" as described by Curt Gowdy. I used to enjoy watching the great Hank Aaron bring his batting helmet to the plate and put it on there. How about Willie Stargell's twirling his bat as a timing mechanim? Or, Joe Morgan's flapping his left arm as the pitcher went into his delivery motion? There so many other lasting memories of great players.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel as if baseball and perhaps professional sports overall has lost some of its allure.

Baseball, to me and like many things in life, has some lost its nostalgia, its allure, and its magic. In reality, it is hard to root for millionaires when some live extravagant and sometimes controversial lifestyles. I recall hearing that the Yankees cut Mantle's salary a year after he won the coveted Triple Crown of baseball because his numbers went down. That does not happen in today's world of guaranteed contracts. Hard to believe that some of these millionaires charge top dollar for autographs at card signing shows.

Yet, I still find myself reaching for that box score, actually surfing for that boxscore and perusing the Boston Globe for player updates. Maybe I am clinging to baseball like I am clinging to my youth knowing that it is fleeting yet clinging anyway.

Happy New Year to all! And, to the baseball fans everywhere: 49 days until pitchers and catcher report.