Spring Training

under Florida sun

full count, fastball, swing and hit

home run for the fans

the grapefruit league

innings stretch forever

meditation in the sun

Last week I went to Florida for a few days, with my eldest son. Our goals were twofold: enjoy some warmth and sunshine, and watch some baseball. It’s spring training season with Major League Baseball, and our favourite team*, the Toronto Blue Jays, train in the grapefruit league in Florida, and we stayed in proximity to Dunedin, where the Jays train. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and the baseball was terrific. Spring training games are serious enough to be interesting, the stadiums intimate, and the fans in immensely great moods.

I could write a LOT about why I love baseball so much, but I will try to keep it brief. Baseball is a sport of contrasts and is exhilarating because of that: long periods of relatively slow play contrasted by intense speed and activity. It’s a sport in which some innings go by in a matter of minutes, and others stretch on an on and on. It’s a game with no fixed end-time. Its units of play, innings, are variable in length. It’s a remarkably simple sport (pitch, hit a ball, run) yet also incredibly complex (pitch types, bullpen, utility players, designated hitters, statistics).

Baseball is also a sport that, for me, is meditative. During a lazy summer Saturday afternoon, I sometimes find myself dozing off to a game, listening to the play-by-play, hearing perfect fastball contact a perfect swing. My breathing slows. I calm down. I relax. When seeing a game live, time takes on a new meaning. It slows down, changes, and it’s almost as if you exist within a bubble or island outside of the rest of the world. Finally, there is a rich history, statistics, storylines. This is all rather romantic and for non-baseball fans, I realize this makes little sense! I certainly won’t try to convert anyone but just wanted to share my own thoughts.

Finally, and perhaps this is self-evident, but baseball is also something I can enjoy with my son. The beauty and joy of that is beyond words.

*in addition to the Jays, my other favourite teams in the MLB include the Twins, Reds, and Phillies. This year at spring training we watched the Jays play the Phillies, the Phillies play the Yankees, and the Jays play the Pirates.

© Christopher M Buddle 2024