Take me out to the ball game

"You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball!" Is there any ritual that symbolizes the ushering in of spring in American culture more so than baseball? If there is one, I haven't figured it out yet. Opening Day is our annual reminder that hope springs eternal. Whether your team failed to make the playoffs or your clean-up hitter struck out with the tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth to lose the seventh game of the World Series, you get to do it all over again every April.

Many people will argue, and I'd be hard pressed to disagree, that other sports have taken over as our 'national pastime'. Certainly in the South, college football is the national pastime, religion, and everything in between. But it's hard to deny that baseball still captures our hearts and imaginations in ways few other sports can. Some of the most popular sports-themed movies are about baseball. How many times have you used the phrase 'if you build it, they will come'? Without baseball as a backdrop, there's no telling where Kevin Costner's career would be today.

For a lot of people, the love of the game is something inherited from someone dear to us. I'm no different. My dad loves baseball - specifically his St. Louis Cardinals. He took me to college baseball games when I was little, taught me how to keep score, and while a lot of families spent their spring breaks at the beach, you could find us at spring training games. He took me to my first MLB game at Fenway Park, and I'm so grateful that we got to see the Cardinals play at the old Busch Stadium together. Maybe one day we'll get to see UF and FSU play in Omaha.

Baseball's public image has suffered a lot in recent years. The strike and PEDs, among other things, have done their fair share to sully the sport's reputation. But the true fans continue to stick with their teams. Baseball allegiances run deep - heaven forbid you tell a BoSox fan that curses don't exist. Allegiance is a word that's taken lightly in today's professional sports environment. But it does exist. I watched Chipper grow up as a Brave, and I admire his commitment to retire as a Brave.

So today, savor the freshly cut grass, the freshly chalked baselines, and that sweet crack of a line drive to right-center. Get excited about the new rookies who just made the cut for the 25-man roster. Enjoy the ups and downs of this roller coaster relationship. Admit that the springtime honeymoon will give way to the dog days of summer when you'll want to give up. After all, any true love will push you to the limits. Let yourself get swept up in the strategy and statistics of the game. And finally, think about how more perfect our Union would be if we could finally ratify a constitutional amendment to ban the designated hitter.