Walk Off, Zim!

Baseball is back.

It feels so nice to say that: Baseball - is - back. It's been a long winter. And it still seems to be lingering for many of us, but today is opening day for most teams and if warm weather isn't going to remind us of Spring and Summer, then baseball will.

Last night, the Nationals opened their season in their new park. From what I saw on TV, the place looks beautiful. And to top it off, Ryan Zimmerman ended the game in pure dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off home run:



For baseball fans, if this doesn't get you excited for the season then you must be simple. It's time. It's time for the crack of the bat and home runs to end a close game; It's time for hot dogs passed down the aisle at the hands of nine strangers; It's time for men yelling "Peanuts!"; It's time for the hot and sweaty days of sitting in the open air during an afternoon game.

For me, baseball is an art form. Baseball is poetry. It's easy to dismiss the game for lack of movement or scoring (especially in our Football World of fast paced beer commercials and scantily clad women flashing across TV screens like brainless music videos). Sadly, the beauty of the sport is lost on most. Baseball, like chess, has no clock. The game ends when someone wins. Time does not decide the victor. The action is subtle like a dance, or a few measures of a Bach concerto. If you're not paying attention you will miss it. Baseball forces us to slow down and quietly observe. We are a busy generation. We are always connected. We are constantly running and fetching and jumping. Baseball removes us from that world. Baseball shows us that wonderful things happen when you stop and pay attention.

If I had to choose a religion, baseball would be it. And my church is and always will be Wrigley Field...



One more thing... XM 175 Home Plate... If you're a baseball fan you must listen to this channel.