To paraphrase from a Thomas Boswell classic, “Time Begins on Opening Day.”
In Michael Ortman‘s case, multiply that times 50.
One of the things I wanted to ask the author of Opening Day: 50-for-50: One Fan, One Game, A Half-Century of Baseball Stories was how his approach to the game has changed over time. Like Ortman, I attended my first game at the age of nine, but it wasn’t with my father; as an immigrant from “the old country,” he had no interest in such silliness. I went with my day camp and took to the Mets, who were playing the Pirates at Shea Stadium that day, immediately. I love seeing pictures from concessions stands back then for a chuckle over how inexpensive everything was.
Like Ortman, I kept up with the game through school, college, family. I never thought to write any of it down. Of course, in his case, those recollections were very specific to his streak of attending Opening Day (I’ve never had the pleasure); his total of such contests probably outnumbers my total total of games attended.
We discussed was the concept of memory — long a favorite interest of mine — which can grow hazy and/or inaccurate over time. Ortman didn’t rely just on his recollections for his book, but spent due diligence on research to bolster the stories. Take the time to check out the book’s excellent companion website, OpeningDay5050, for additional details on each game and more.
is available on Amazon.com,
Comments on this entry are closed.