Happy 4th of July and go Red Sox!
There was only one night game a year. On the 4th of July, the whole sky would brighten up with fireworks, giving us just enough light for a game.
We played our best then because, I guess, we all felt like the big leaguers under the lights of some great stadium.
The Red Sox will play this 4th of July from the confines of Fenway Park. Boston has been one of the hottest teams in baseball and look to carry that stretch of hot baseball into July. However, their recent play in Chicago left more to be desired.
As I sit here, I am listening to Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful” from 2001 before Game 2 of the World Series. In 2001, baseball helped the country and New York post 9/11. From Charles’ amazing rendition of “America the Beautiful” to former President George W. Bush walking out to the mound at Yankee Stadium before Game 3. He stood atop the mound before a standing ovation with a baseball in his hand. He would deliver the ceremonial first pitch, a strike to the catcher Todd Greene. The pitch meant more than the ceremonial first pitch, it let the country and the world know we could start to heal after the 9/11 attacks.
Two years ago, there was no baseball on July 4th because of the pandemic. This year, baseball will be played but with the turmoil of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. Hopefully, everyone can look past our opinions and differences today and enjoy the time with one another.
It’s funny how a piece of rubber or cork that is wrapped in yarn, covered in white cowhide with 108 stitches impacts each and everyone of us. This year baseball can do the same for us like it did for us and the world back in 2001. Sports can provide us with an escape even amongst some of the most tumultuous times in our countries history.
On the 4th of July, I am going to celebrate our freedoms and try and thank everyone I can who allows us the ability to be free everyday. I never really watch fireworks, I never was a big fan of them. Like the kids in the “Sandlot” movie, I will stop and watch the sky light up. Once I get off the plane, I will be traveling back from Chicago after watching the Red Sox play three with the Cubs from Wrigley Field.
As the fireworks light up the sky, it will be a beacon of hope in a world so desperate for something good and positive to come out of it.
You see, for us, baseball was a game. But for Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, baseball was life. What I would give to be a kid again, to be Scotty Smalls from the Sandlot during the summer of ’62. To encounter the baseball stealing dog named “The Beast”.
When our Founding Fathers got together, they would have no clue that in the future, a few hundred years might I add, that we’d be firing up the grill and having some hot dogs, macaroni salad, and a few Bud Heavy’s while tossing the corn hole bag around with buddies in the backyard.
Stay safe out there, leave politics aside for one day and enjoy each other. Enjoy the burgers and dogs and enjoy the seltzers and beers. Happy 4th of July and go Red Sox.
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
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