Spring training for baseball is just around the corner. For the young and old, the first pitch is still the true beginning of summer. Everyone knows that with the new season comes new hopes that their favorite team will take the pennant and then on into the World Series. It is perhaps more apparent now as even Cubs fans are excited. Given the outcome of the last 100 years, that won’t be the case come September.
Many flamboyant and just great players have made baseball the summer pastime of America. Few history books on the game can ever pass up the names of Brooks Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, or Cy Young - just to name a few. These players were the ones that played the game long before today’s multi-million dollar salaries, private jets, and steroids. They came into the game on sheer talent, with skills nurtured by hours of practice and play as young boys.
Players like Babe Ruth fought hardships such as alcoholism and a lack of family support (the Babe grew up in an orphanage). Jackie Robinson, who played second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Willie Mays, who played centerfield and other positions for both the NY and San Francisco Giants, and Hank Aaron, who played outfield for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves and was the first to break Babe Ruth’s home run record, all broke not only the color barriers but excelled in their craft and skills. Each on their own merits has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now the summer months are almost upon us and with them, a new flock of players. Only history will be able to tell if they will be anything like the old guard, the greats of yesteryear.
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