THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605160222
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 33 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Jeff Zeigler
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Attending the Perquimans County High School Old Timers baseball game last week brought back a lot of memories for me.
Carefree days of playing the national pastime for hours. Playing pickup games on the grade-school field. Firing a ball thousands of times against the school wall, secretly pretending I was Tom Seaver.
The fans in Perquimans County make the pilgrimage once a year to see the old heroes from that high school's championship teams against the current high school players.
Maybe that's why folks like it so much.
The winners are those who get to see a Hall-of-Famer, and those other players who made memories so many years ago.
A lot of that type of nostalgia has been lost with today's youth. There are other diversions like cable television, video games and NASCAR racing.
Yes, baseball has lost some of its varnish since my youth. To me, the game will never be the same. I guess I have a lot of perceptions as to what baseball is and what baseball isn't.
Baseball is Camden County's Robbie Chesson throwing a runner out at home from the outfield. Baseball is not Albert Belle trying to knock out a reporter with an outfield throw.
Baseball is when young boys get together and play in a pasture on a Sunday afternoon in Perquimans County. Baseball is not hitting a ball off the ``trashbag'' at the Metrodome.
Baseball is the eighth batter in the order executing a successful suicide squeeze. Baseball is not when a 150-pound utility infielder can jack a 400-foot homer because the ball is ``juiced.''
Baseball is Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball is not Marge Schott.
Baseball is a young, hungry player who dreams of making it to the major leagues. Baseball is not the same player who whines about his salary once he gets there.
Baseball is allowing your kids to play ball in the back yard. Baseball is not being a ``little league parent'' and trashing an umpire when your child takes a called third strike.
Baseball is when the kid who hasn't had a hit all season comes through with the game-winning single. Baseball isn't when a multimillion dollar outfielder with all the potential in the world cuts his career short with a crack pipe and a bottle.
Baseball is setting up a playing field in the street with chalk drawings for bases. Baseball is not major league owners who threaten to move out of town unless the taxpayers pay for his new state-of-the-art ballpark, complete with sky boxes and sushi bars.
I know what baseball really is. Baseball is hitting a ball so hard it smashes through your neighbor's window, and even though you have to pay for the damage, you're still glad you hit it so far.
That actually happened, so many years ago. MEMO: Jeff Zeigler covers sports for The Carolina Coast. Send comments and
questions to him at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
by CNB