Remember back when Babe Ruth pointed way out into right field, indicating where he was going to slam his next home run? The Babe was having fun. Baseball started out as a kid’s game and its best players still today are mostly kids at heart.
The fun down on the field radiates easily into the stands and the fans, young and old alike, are suddenly having fun as well. The troubles and woes of the day are forgotten and “take me out to the ball park” becomes reality. If you are lucky enough to have your kid with you, the experience is multiplied exponentially.
In too many games of late we have seen the players on the field being painfully serious I mean really, some of these guys go through a whole game without breaking a smile. Then we have the stone face umpires and managers who never look happy. Sure, they are still out there playing damn good baseball, sometimes even great baseball but are they having fun?
If you have watched the Los Angeles Dodgers in the latter half of this baseball season you have seen a lot of fun baseball. So maybe sometimes they got a little sloppy and sometimes took ridiculous chances on long throws, they had fun and they were fun to watch.
When Cuban superstar Yasil Puig joined the team in June it was like a breath of fresh air… or was it a kick in the butt? Well, perhaps a bit of both. After Puig came along the Dodgers were a different team. They were having more fun and they were winning more games. Whether as an example or an inspiration, Yasiel Puig was just what the Dodgers needed.
Comparisons are inevitable between the Dodgers and the recently victorious Dominican Republic national team in the World Baseball Classic finals in San Francisco. They raised their arms in victory after landing on second base with a stand up double. They high-fived all around after a big home run. They called on the crowd for support. They were a hoot! Fun baseball at its best…and they won.
It can not escape notice that the Dodgers team roster is loaded with Latinos. That does seem sort of appropriate given the population of Los Angeles and the Latinos are showing up in great numbers in support of their baseball team. Ramirez, Gonzales, Puig, Marmol, Belisario, Dominguez, Volquez, Punto & Uribe have a big following….and don’t forget about young Kenley Jansen from Curacao who is having an awesome year as a closer for the Dodgers…he’s really having fun!