“His play was only exceeded by his gracious manner.”

by chuckofish

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Baseball season has commenced and the home team is off to a ho hum start. Not that I really care, but caring about baseball is definitely a thing in our flyover city. Anyway, it is a good excuse to watch Major League (1989), a silly movie that I love.

As games go, baseball is the greatest. This is a thoughtful piece about just that. “Unlike other sports, baseball celebrates the human being over the ball, for in baseball, runs are never tallied by the location of the ball but only when the baserunner makes it home. Scoring does not come through conquest but at the end of a long treacherous journey back home.”

Love of baseball was something that my grandfather and I had in common. As a child, I would write him letters about the Cardinal exploits during the long, boring summers. He was a diehard Red Sox fan and, at the time (the sixties), I was a diehard Cardinal fan. Bunker had played ball growing up and he was on the University of Vermont team. He must have been pretty good as he was traveling with the team as a freshman.

He dropped out of college after his freshman year to scout out his prospects in different branches of the military during WWI. The war ended before he could sign up and he never returned to college. School and Bunker never clicked. As you recall, he was asked to leave several prep schools. I’m not sure he ever actually graduated from high school, but he made it to college anyway and got to play ball while he was there. He was a team player, a Scotsman and, therefore I suppose, clannish. Throughout his life he belonged to a veriety of men’s clubs–the Masons, the North Chester Club, various fishing groups.

Bunker is 2nd from the left.

And he continued to play competitive sports.

Well, I digress. One thought leads to another. And that reminds me, today is our pater’s birthday (1922). He and Bunker got along fine and respected each other although they were very different. They agreed about the basics and shared a gracious manner.

Rejoice in the day. Take a few moments to remember those who came before you.

“In my soul the afternoon grows wider and I reflect.”

–Jorge Luis Borges