OUR VIEW: USU students neglect America’s pastime
At the end of the 1989 classic “Field of Dreams,” a man named John Kinsella walks out onto a baseball field that his son Ray built in the middle of a cornfield.
“Is this Heaven?” he says. Ray responds, “It’s Iowa.”
Heaven is what a baseball field is for many Americans, whether you’re a player or a casual spectator.
Heaven is sitting on the lawn at a Cactus League Spring Training game. With a can of pop in one hand and a bag of peanuts in the other, you sit in the sunshine watching the greatest game ever played.
A few months later, the real baseball season is underway. You walk into Chase Field and are overwhelmed by the atmosphere. The swarms of fans in their favorite teams’ swag, the sounds, the smells – all of your senses are activated within just a few seconds. There is no better way to spend a summer night.
Eventually, October rolls around. It’s a close fight with March for being the greatest month of the year. The World Series is a classic display of athleticism, fanhood and true love of an American tradition.
We understand that in Utah we aren’t fortunate enough to have a Major League team. In fact, we aren’t even fortunate to have anything more than a club baseball team at USU. Maybe one day it will happen, but in the meantime you have options. Head to Salt Lake and check out the Bees. Did you even know we have a USU team? We doubt it, because a pathetically small group attends the games. They are on a 13-game winning streak and would probably love support – the same support football and basketball gets. There are three high schools in Cache Valley, all of which have baseball teams. If you’re sticking around for the summer, join a rec league team in Logan or Smithfield.
Baseball is one of the many underappreciated sports at USU, while nationally, Major League Baseball is far more profitable than the National Basketball Association.
June 19, 1846, the first official baseball game was played. The New York Knickerbockers traveled across the river to Hoboken, N.J., to take on the New York Nine at Elysian Fields. It took awhile to grow, but by 1867 there were more than 400 baseball clubs scattered throughout the country. Baseball brought us legends like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio.
As they watch the ghost baseball players come onto the field, Terrence Mann turns to Ray Kinsella and says, “The one constant through all the years has been baseball … this field, this game – it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Our hope is that students will realize which USU team has been forgotten and support Aggie baseball.