Two of the "early greats"
in baseball were Tyrus Raymond Cobb and Joseph Jefferson Jackson. They are
shown here in 1913 while Ty Cobb was playing for the Detroit Tigers and
"Shoeless Joe" was playing for the Cleveland Indians. Cobb was noted
for being a "slugger," both on and off the field, and Shoeless Joe for his
performance on the field and for being banned from professional baseball for
life as one among the Chicago White Sox players who conspired to "fix"
the 1919 World Series in the infamous "Black Sox Scandal." This post
is not so much about either man as it is about a contemporary film and the love
and the lore of baseball. Other elements of this post, I think, are very apparent
and applicable to the nature of "humankind." Incidentally, Shoeless
Joe got his nickname after playing a game in stocking feet in South Carolina
before arriving in the "big leagues."
A few thoughts about baseball
& us
I never have been a real fan of Kevin Costner as an
actor, but I have been a real admirer of his creative talents. Among my
favorite films is, "Field of Dreams." Although I never have been a
real fan of baseball, either, there is enough about the game and its history
and its traditions to give me a sense of nostalgia about it.
Like most boys growing up in "small town
America," I played organized baseball even through my senior year in high
school. I suppose one reason I never was a real fan of the game is because I
was never particularly good at it. I was "adequate" at fielding, but
being a "switch hitter" gave me an edge at the plate. My step-father
was a local legend as a pitcher and had made it as far as the minor leagues in
professional baseball.
Back to Costner and the fields where dreams are sometimes
made and sometimes lost. There was a line of dialogue in that film which really
made a deep impression on me. It was uttered by Ray Kinsella portrayed by
Costner while he is talking with Shoeless Joe Jackson played by Ray Liotta:
Ray Kinsella: "I did it all.
I listened to the voices, I did what they told me, and not once did I ask
what's in it for me."
Shoeless Joe Jackson: "What are you
saying, Ray?"
Ray Kinsella: "I'm saying,
what's in it for me?"
Shoeless Joe Jackson: "Is that why
you did this? For you?"
"What's in it for me" almost certainly is
the question thought, if not actually asked, thousands of times during the
course of a lifetime by every human entity who ever has walked the Earth. It
illustrates the self-serving nature of humankind. The only difference
between it and hunger is that hunger is both a physical and a mental
phenomenon, while inasmuch as I can tell, self-serving greed is an element only of the mind.
Of course, I could be wrong about that ....
The words sometimes are insinuated and often
demonstrated, but seldom actually said in a medium where they are there for the
world to witness. I suppose that is another reason I admire Costner, not only for
his creativity, but for his audacity.
Those words and that concept perhaps are the
primary reason the notion of "on earth peace, good will toward men" seems
to advance so very slowly.
If you have not seen this film and do not know the
story of it, I will tell you this much: It is about the love of a son for his
father and the lengths he goes to as a means to ease a guilty conscience for
never having expressed his love to the father, who is long dead. If any part of
you is a romantic or has a guilty conscience, I am certain it will touch you
deeply .... and, in any case, it is a fine motion picture with a great story
and excellent acting -- nothing to lose ....
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14 comments:
Nice post Fram!I sure will look up that movie!
Thank you, Anita. I hope you do find the film and watch it. It truly is among my favorites.
I also hope you watched the video about the ball boys / ball girls. They are only teenagers, but have amazing baseball talent for their ages. Some of their catches of foul balls are absolutely remarkable -- often just as good as those you see among the professionals playing the games.
I don't understand a thing about baseball, Fram. A few years ago I was explained the rules of this game and that was it. Then I went a few times to Salt Lake City to watch the baseball games of our local team and everything was so confusing that I just watched and thought why everybody were having a great time and I wasn't Actually, I had a great time watching people, sometimes players and eating delicious cheeseburgers.
Fram, if you played baseball through your senior year in high school and didn't quit, you were good!!!
I like Kevin Costner at the beginning of his career. He impressed me so much in the movie " The Bodyguard".
I have never seen the movie "Field of Dreams". Interesting, that this movie is one of your favorites.
I like what you wrote about this movie at the end of your post. You made me want to see "Field of Dreams". I also have a guilty conscience for never having expressed my love to my father. I wish I could turn the clock back...
I enjoyed reading your post, Fram!
Football was my love in high school, Kaya. I was good at football and I liked the contact -- hitting and being hit. I probably would have enjoyed baseball more had I been good at it -- and, I probably would have been good at it had I practiced more.
Baseball is a more intricate game, I think, and more fineness is required. In terms of physical prowess and athletic talent, I believe both must be near equal in requirement. It sort of comes down to which a person prefers both to play and to watch.
I agree with you about Kevin Costner. I really enjoyed, "The Bodyguard," as well, and also count, "Dances with Wolves," among my favorites. As a side note, three of the Indians who appeared in "Dances" were inmates in my unit when I worked for the South Dakota Department of Corrections. I talked with them a few times about Costner and what it was like actually working as an actor in a motion picture .... enjoyable and fascinating conversations ....
It would be great if you could watch, "Field of Dreams." There actually is not much baseball activity in it. The film mostly centers around Ray Kinsella (Costner) plowing under a corn field to build a baseball diamond on his farm in Iowa, hearing voices and traveling around the country with writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) trying to solve the riddle of why the voices told him to build the baseball field. I would bet money you would like it.
I feel badly that you never expressed love for your father and today have guilt about it. My memory of my father is confined to three occasions: The first when I was about age five or six, another when I was about age twelve or thirteen and the last when I was a college senior. Only the final time lasted more than a few minutes and involved conversation with him. No guilt in that regard for me, only a lot of "what ifs" ....
I am glad you enjoyed the post, Kaya. Thank you, for visiting me and for your comment here. I hope you watched both videos .... I have a hunch you would enjoy them, too, and find them interesting.
I do not know the movie "Dream of Field".
Baseball I have done when I was a child ..
It's a molten ground game, so it's good to play in the summer.
I like a lot of actress Kevin Costner.
Good movie is "Dances with Wolves". I watched it.
He is a US cavalry officer who is friendly to Sioux Indians.
The movie has been rewarded in many ways.
Sioux Indians have once inhabited Minnesota.
Baseball is fun to play and, often, exciting to play. As with any athletic endeavor, it requires time and effort and practice in order to excel -- these things in addition to natural talent. In my case, I lacked all the ingredients to rise beyond being an average, kid player.
I have enjoyed all of Kevin Costner's films, Liplatus, and a few seem to be exceptional motion pictures to me for a variety of reasons -- of which, "Dances with Wolves," is one of his best. I watch it every year.
Minnesota continues to be a land of the Indian -- of the Native American -- as the politically correct tend to refer to them. I guess I am a slow learner. I think of us all as Americans with old-fashion names and designations and roots. More than 60,000 reside here, with branches of the Dakota primarily in the southern half of the state and the Ojibwe in the northern half.
I grew up sort of in the epicenter of the where the Sioux Uprising / Dakota War of 1862 began, and was fortunate to have a sixth grade teacher whose first and greatest love was local history. We made countless field trips to historic sites, many of them related to the uprising/war.
I actually had an ancestor who was among the "Renville Rangers" and pursued the Sioux with regular army troops all the way into North Dakota where a pitched battle was fought. He later joined the U.S. Army Cavalry, and was among those in a patrol killed by a combined Sioux / Cheyenne war party on or about July 2, 1867, in Kansas. G.A. Custer and the Seventh U.S. Cavalry found the bodies and buried them.
Times have changed. Today, I have relatives through blood and marriage among both the Sioux and the Ojibwe.
Thank you, Liplatus, for coming and for writing a comment here. I enjoy your company ....
Olá Fram!
Demorei um pouquinho para aparecer, foi preciso me ausentar um pouco.O correr da vida embrulha tudo e precisando dar uma desacelerada.
Prometo que vou ler todas as postagens anteriores que perdi.
Eu não entendo quase nada de jogo de beisebol, mas sei que vocês Americanos é especialista em jogar beisebol. O brasileiro gosta mais de futebol.
Eu sou grande admiradora do trabalho do Kevin Costner, devido ao filme dança com lobos. A trilha sonora desse filme e arrebatadora, e a direção eficiente de Costner, além de um elenco azeitado, que nos convence de cada papel, mesmo os mais caricatos e vilanescos. E, talvez o mais importante: ele nos faz refletir. Eu assisti outros filmes de Kevin Costner como o guarda-costas, uma carta de amor, e tantos outros que não me lembro do nome agora. Mas o que ficou marcado foi Dança com Lobos. Aqui no Brasil tem um canal de TV por assinatura que podemos assisti a esses filmes mais antigos. Vou ver se encontro esse "Campo dos Sonhos" não me lembro de ter assistido. Mas me parece que já assisti algumas cenas desse filme. Fiquei curiosa e vou procurar pra ver se assisti ou não.
Estava vendo o vídeo e o beisebol é um esporte bem interessante.
Fram, volto mais tarde pra ler as postagens passadas. Uma excelente semana, e um mês de setembro cheio de coisas boas.
Escrevinhados da Vida
I think you are sort of a mysterious woman, Smareis. There have been times when you have told me about segments and elements of your life, but, in reality, I know so very little about you. I will write more about that another time, another day, probably in a note to you.
Right now, my son is visiting me for a few days. Monday was a holiday in the United States -- Labor Day -- and the three-day weekend is considered to be the end of summer here. Autumn begins and will pass too quickly .... then, all too soon, it will be winter with its ice and snow and frigid days and nights.
Yes, baseball is an interesting sport and it is called by many the "national sport" of the U.S. Football is No. 1 on my list, both for playing and for watching, followed by track and field events. All other athletic endeavors fall in somewhere behind them.
As I have written, I am not what could be called a true fan of Kevin Costner, but I do admire him for his creativity and his audacity. And, perhaps most importantly, I like his films and a few of them are among my all-time favorites. I would urge you to watch, "Field of Dreams," if you have the opportunity. I probably have watched it a dozen times, and portions of it many more times.
It would be sweet of you if you do find the time to read my earlier posts, but do not feel compelled to write a comment for any of them. As I mentioned, my son is here visiting me so the days will be busy and it might take me a while to respond to any comments.
In the meanwhile, thank you, Smareis, for coming here now and for writing a comment for this post. You are very special and your presence is very important to me ....
Fram, I answered your comment on my blog but I am not sure that you would come to read it.
I decided to post it here:
"Fram, thank you for your story. I reread it a few times. I like especially that you found the injured bird and brought it to a local minister. That is was so kind of you and your friend. I was touched deeply by this story.
Thank you!!!".
One of the advantages of growing up in a small town, Kaya, is that even ten- and eleven-year-old boys know everyone from the youngest to the eldest who live there. While my friend and I attended a church other than the one for which our "bird watcher clergyman" was the minister, we knew him in an informal sense and thought bringing the bird to him was the logical thing to do. So, we did it. Under his care, the "shypoke" regained its health and was returned to the wild.
Mission accomplished, as someone once said.
Thank you, Kaya, both for the kind words and for the extra effort to ensure I was aware of your sentiments.
Respondi seu comentário que fez la no blog e enviei do blog pra você.
Boa semana Fram!
Sorrisos!
I was there and saw it, Smareis. Thank you. I wrote a reply for it there and will leave a copy here, as well:
Yes, you are absolutely right about this, Smareis. Each of us is an island, yet part of the main, a segment of the whole. And, in the context of being an island -- an individual -- exploration of one another is not a right. It can only be a gift from one to another.
You are a mysterious individual, I think, and I must assume you are because you prefer to be. I suppose I am very much that way, too. I do like to talk/write about myself, but I also like my anonymity/privacy and go to some lengths to maintain them.
You also are absolutely right about the references to "Old Norse" mythology/religion. Lyngvi is an island in Lake Amsvartnir and that is where the wolf Fenrir is chained in captivity. The reason I referenced them is because so much of your life is hidden in utter darkness, the same as the island is hidden in utter darkness.
We all need more laughter in our lives; and, for sure, I need more smiles ....
O mundo precisa de mais sorrisos Fram!
Nada prende tão bem uma alma à outra quanto a simpatia de um sorriso.
Continuação de boa semana!
Então, vai muitos sorrisos pra você.
When I was working as a policy/management analyst for the South Dakota Department of Corrections, I applied for a position as one of four "unit managers" at a new prison complex. I got the job. The first task was to write a "unit operational plan" from scratch. I did, and among the things I wrote in it were words to the effect that the greatest way to win people over to your side was to wear a smile when speaking with them. The last words of that recommendation were these: "You will be amazed at the power of a smile and the affect it will have on other people."
Nice to "see" you again, Smareis ....
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