I'm a dreamer and I particularly enjoy dreaming about baseball. For as long as I can remember, I have always had a small box that travels with me everywhere I go containing all of my favorite baseball souvenirs, from the baseball that has been passed throughout generations in my family to the couple of tickets of the last baseball game that I attended with my grandfather about forty years ago. Every one of the objects inside that box has a particular significance to me and my family. Many times during the week, I stop whatever I am doing and just open that box to look inside and pick something up, so I can dream about that particular object. Those dreams are so vivid that sometimes when I wake up I am covered in sweat because I was jumping and jumping, crying out loud for the player to reach the home plate and score the big win that will take the team to the playoffs. Sometimes I have to change clothes because all the scents that belong to the baseball field are strongly attached to them: peanuts, popcorn, corndogs, beer, and even the smell of the guy sitting next to me. Some other times I just look at the baseball cards and think about the player pictured there, and what kind of baseball career he had and for how long he had it, but the most intriguing part is always why it ended up in my little box of memories. All the baseball cards that I have are gifts that I have received along my life, either because somebody wanted me to have them, or just because it was a tradition in my house that the oldest son has to receive these kinds of mementos. This little box looks pretty simple from the outside, but inside it has treasures beyond measure because somebody in my family wanted to keep a special moment forever, and also wanted that moment to be passed over to other generations so they will have the chance to enjoy and live that particular moment again. One of the things that I always do is that I sit down with my friends and go back in time with each and every one of the objects inside that box; and it is not because I want to brag about what I have (well, not that much), but mostly it is because there is some magic in each of the objects that needs to be lived time and time again. I am proud to have something that can be passed over to the next generation, and I'm sure that it will kept in the same way that I have been keeping my little box, and will be open from time to time Do you have your little box of baseball memories? Would you like to share it with the rest of us? Now you can do that with my book, The Tenth Player: When We Were There; if you are curious go and check-it out at: http://baseballcardsandhistory.com; or you can write to me at baseball-history-articles@click-preneur.com |