AN ADAGE A DAY- ENCOURAGEMENT
Play Ball!
By Carole Gilbert
Baseball is in full swing. We were never big fans, but our kids did play on a few teams. Our daughter was on the T-ball team named the Firebirds. And our boys were on the Bat Breakers T-ball team with my husband and I as the coaches. And then one of our sons played in fifth grade on the Scorpions. I’ve always thought the team names we come up with for our kids are so sporting and creative.
We had lots of fun. But it was never a home run for me. I must confess, baseball wasn’t my favorite, and besides, we did almost every other sport. One main thing I always expressed to my kids was that if you’re going to play sports you have to “keep your eye on the ball,” figuratively, and literally.
Versions of baseball started in the early 1800’s and a version more like today’s started in the U.S. in New York with the New York Knickerbockers in the mid 1800’s. Again, talk about those sporting names!
Baseball quickly emerged as a popular sport. And from baseball we have gotten quite a few slogans, sayings, and idioms. Let’s touch base and see if you know some? You can step up to the plate and get in your grand slam attitude. You’ll knock it out of the park. Does that help you play ball? If not, keep your eye on the ball. I’m betting a thousand you will. There are so many phrases we created from baseball that we use in other ways in our lives.
The idiom “keep your eye on the ball” is one of these. It means to keep your attention on the task at hand, to stay focused on your thoughts. It’s good to keep your eye on the ball, literally, especially when playing sports, but it’s also a good philosophy for anything you’re doing.
I thought of this idiom thanks to my six-year-old grandson, Martin. We were all in the car and his mother was telling me the story about his brother’s black eye from baseball practice. The coach noticed how good Jacob was at catching ground balls. So, he hit one to Jacob really hard. As the ball approached my grandson, it popped up from the ground right into his eye. Martin, from the back of the car, spoke up saying, “Jacob really needs to keep his eye on the ball,” and then laughed.
All of us, including Jacob, laughed and we will laugh more about this story as the years go by. Jacob’s eye is going to be just fine and his coach felt so bad that he came to check on him bringing a care package full of snacks. In Jacob’s eyes, that was a home run!
I love my grands, as we call them, and I hated seeing Jacob’s eye, but that’s sports. And even with the injuries, I now like baseball. These kids have a way of making us big fans. So as for me, you can take me out to the ball game. I’ll root, root, root, for the home team, if mine are home. I’ll buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks! And if they don’t win, it’s a shame. But I’ll sit and watch every swing, every slide, every safe, and always hope for no outs. And most importantly, I’ll encourage like Paul.
1 Corinthians 9:24,
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one receives the prize?
So run that you may obtain it.”
I hope my grandkids learn this and how it applies to everything. And I also hope they will remember what the legendary Yogi Berra said that also applies to everything, "It ain't over 'til it's over.”