Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, 2007

We were watching the Hall of Fame inductions in Cooperstown today. I turned over to it to listen to Tony Gwynne talk about his induction. I then got Cindy and Kate to turn the television over to the channel so Kate could watch Cal Ripken, Jr's induction. He was always her favorite. She remembered watching him breaking Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played in Baltimore and hitting a home run in front of his family and the home Baltimore crowd. It was very emotional. Then she remembered when we went to see the Braves play the Orioles at Turner Field and watching him get a plaque from the Braves management. I thought it was perfect because Kate got to see him honored and then the Braves won the game in the end. I remember calling Luke in Florida and letting him know that we were there for the Braves game and Cal Ripken's honoring and he was very jealous. Of course, his dad has taken him to quite a few games down in Florida and elsewhere.

When Kate was a little bit older than a toddler, she used to come into the dugout at my softball games to watch the games. I have always tried to take Kate to games, whether they were baseball, football, basketball or hockey games. I am glad she enjoys these games. I know she likes baseball the best. That's ok. It has always been up to me to watch the basketball games and football is still the family game.

Games are fun. Games can teach you things. Games can elicit your emotions, your character and your time. Maybe too much time. That's ok, it has provided time between the generations and forged us together in ways other things could not.

That scene in City Slickers is the most dispositive of this. When the guys explain why baseball was so important to them. It's true, baseball and the other games can provide a connection between the generations which is unbelievably important, so much more than you would expect under the circumstances.