the rix mix

This is cheating. How you gonna throw high & inside to the kid? No protective gear. Invisible home plate. Can the opposing team see Jesus? If so, I'd figure he's also fully human, bounce one off those bare toes & make him dance away. Nothing personal, I love the guy, but it ain't tee ball. He forgives.

I'd like to root for the Colorado Rockies, with their great finish & sweep to the National League Pennant. I respect manager Clint Hurdle, a failed phenom as a player & no great shakes in his previous seasons as Rockies manager, who had a personal epiphany concerning the relative importance of baseball. But this team plays in Coors Field & promotes an image as a "Christian" ballclub. No cursing in clubhouse, no "adult" mags permitted in lockers, even Playboy. Team chapel on Sunday - I'm not convinced there isn't pressure on players to show up & pray. They belong more in Colorado Springs than Denver.

Ownership runs a team as it sees fit. With the Bosox, Johnny Damon enjoyed his image as an "idiot" who never saw a barber, didn't own a razor, & showered once-a-week whether he needed it or not. But he cleaned up overnight when he signed with the Yanks, it just wasn't a big deal compared to the money & pinstripes, & we knew all along he was a funny, articulate guy regardless of how he looked. The Yanks don't allow a lunatic clubhouse anymore. Even banned locker room beer. But although they won't let customers buy a hot dog or keep walking to the restrooms during the singing of God Bless America, the song was composed by a Jew & the Yanks are nonsectarian. The Mets have a different way, & many superstitious fans attempt to influence the outcome of important games with vials of Shea Stadium dirt & other holy relics, & through where they sit in their own living rooms during rallies. I think the Mets ultimately lost the Division this year because in the final week the negative energies of Jose Reyes neutralized every bit of positive magic that surely would have won one additional game for them. Not the Rockies. They're a different kind of faith-based organization. But is Katsuo Matsui a Buddhist?

I'm tolerant about individual religious expression. Tell me you go to church every week, I don't assume you're some kind of wingnut. There's all kinds in every religion & denomination, even the Southern Baptist Convention. I'm not bothered when a football player briefly kneels or crosses himself after a touchdown, although you never see the same visible gratitude when a player doesn't break the plane & gets flattened into the ground by a 400 pound defender. I'm never pleased when an entire public university team forms a prayer circle in the middle of the field after a win; they can't all be faithful Christian believers at Kentucky. That's not why they were recruited.

So I won't root for the Rockies. I can't encourage all the stuff we're gonna hear & read about miracles & blessings & the virtues of front office management pushing communal prayer & clean thoughts if they win the Series. This is professional baseball, not a mega-church service. I'll go nominally with the Indians or I'll sit this one out if Boston gets in. Because I don't care. I'll have the games on TV or radio while I'm putzing around & enjoy them if they're interesting games. & when the Series is over, I'll check out how Big East basketball is shaping up this season.

Labels: baseball, religion