I’d like to think the game of baseball, along with my interest in writing about it, is in the throes of a long winter’s nap. The playoffs and the World Series feel like distant memories now, and the free-agent signings and Hall of Fame ballot debates are nice if you need baseball all year long, but I’m finding that the downtime is actually very nice. What would you expect to hear from someone whose team lost 101 games last year?
The NFL will rule the sporting roost from now until the Super Bowl, and the college bowl games are also coming up over the next two weeks. So baseball gets shoved to the side, for the time being. And that’s just fine, because spring training will get here soon enough, and the game will eventually return to the fields, just as it always has.
I recently read a fascinating tidbit in an old history book that suggested a version of baseball was played by George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. That winter ended, eventually, and every winter since then has, too. When this winter ends, we’ll all be ready for it. But in the meantime, enjoy the football as much as you can, and be grateful that you’re more into baseball than you are into hockey. At least, that’s what seems to be working for me these days.
