A Grip on Sports: It may not be the typical Fourth of July, but there is still baseball of a sort
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s appropriate, I guess, to be talking about baseball on the Fourth of July. It seems the two are joined at the hippocampus or something.
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• Yes, baseball and the Fourth have always teamed up in our memories, but the holiday’s one sporting event that most-vividly stands out in my mind occurred in England.
July 4, 1981. Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe. A 41-match winning streak. But on that Fourth almost 40 years ago, the American, an ugly American actually (it was in an earlier match in 1981 McEnroe delivered his famous “are you serious” screed against the chair umpire), ended Borg’s dominance on the All England Club’s grass courts and took his first title.
The year before the two had met in the final. It was a classic, about as good as tennis has ever been, before or since. But 1981 meant the end of Borg’s five consecutive Wimbledon titles and that 41-match streak in the tournament. Plus, it marked McEnroe’s ascendance to the top of the game.
The event has moved later in the year recently and won’t be held at all in this one, another victim of a disease that has ripped its way around the world and the world of sports. In its wake has been the baseball season as well, though that sport is beginning its comeback on the Fourth of July weekend.
How appropriate.
Baseball may cover more holidays, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but, over the decades, the Fourth has been the one most associated with the country’s pastime.
There was a time a Fourth doubleheader was de rigueur, back when the big league played doubleheaders. Nowadays, a postgame fireworks show is more the norm, but it doesn’t matter. The game, the day, that’s what matters.
It was July 4, 1939 Lou Gehrig told the world he was the luckiest man alive – and he meant it. Forty-four years later, in the same ballpark, Dave Righetti, threw the first no-hitter for the Yankees since Don Larsen’s World Series’ perfect game. It was Fourth with little in the way of fireworks, at least from the Red Sox’s bats.
The craziest July 4 game ever occurred a couple years later in Atlanta, when the Mets and Braves played a 19-inning game that didn’t end until 4 in the morning. Which, surprisingly, didn’t put a crimp in the fireworks show. How would you have liked to live near the Braves’ ballpark that night and be awoken just before sunrise by fireworks?
There will not be fireworks at major league parks this Fourth. Heck, there was very little noise yesterday when teams began a second spring training – called Summer Camp by baseball – in preparation for beginning the long-delayed season. And there won’t be any fireworks at minor league stadiums at all, as the minor league season was canceled earlier this week.
It’s too bad. Most baseball memories flow uphill, from youth leagues through high school, college, the minors and then the majors. Most of the key steppingstones in that process are gone this year and one, the minor leagues, won’t return in the same form it took just a year ago.
Take solace in this: Fourth of July fireworks at the ballpark will be back someday. Book it. Heck, an American male may win Wimbledon again.
Hey, it could happen.
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Gonzaga: Around the WCC, a BYU recruit will have a new look heading into the Cougars’ tough nonconference schedule.
WSU: One of Washington State’s highly thought of recruiting class made it official yesterday, with Carlos Rosario, a 6-foot-7 wing, signing with the Cougars. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college sports, Oregon State has to make a decision on the most important position. … Colorado is examining lots of tight end options. … One former player doesn’t believe Utah’s investigation into Morgan Scalley’s actions was complete. … In basketball news, Arizona State’s season may hinge on two players’ decisions.
Seahawks: The most talked-about news in the NFL these days? What new name will the Washington franchise pick? It seems a foregone conclusion the old name is headed out the door.
Mariners: The M’s began summer camp with practice. Yep, we’re talking about practice. Why not? It’s all we’ve had, baseball-wise, since the pandemic hit. … The Mariners will use a six-man rotation in this odd season. And they still will focus on improving their young talent for success down the road. … One of baseball’s biggest names is contemplating sitting out the season, worried about his family’s health. It’s hard to blame Mike Trout. Trying to get players not to spit seems an odd way to try to control the spread of a virus that is spreading throughout communities around the country.
Sounders: Seattle took off yesterday, headed to Florida to re-start its season. A few fans turned out to see them off and beg them to stay safe.
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• I know it’s early, but we’re out of here. Off to hit the wilderness. Well, as wild as you can find within a few minutes of the house. It will be fun, in a masochistic way. Honestly, though, who enjoys sweating anymore? Not this guy. Until later …