Baseball, 17 years later

I'm re-watching the Ken Burns documentary "Baseball".  It is every bit as good as his Civil War documentary.  Fans of baseball should find plenty to love about it.  Non-fans would become fans if the watched it. 

The first time I watched it, of course, was when it first came out.  1994 was a heck of a year in baseball.  The Cleveland Indians were actually a good baseball team for the first time in my lifetime that year.  A strike shortened the season, though and there was no World Series.

My Grandpa Strebler would have loved to see the 90s Indians.  He had been a fan his entire life.  He was the same age as Bob Feller.  My grandpa passed away in 1991.  Bob Feller lived a little longer, but passed away last year.


Other characters from the documentary have passed away in the mean time, too.  Buck O'Neil, passed away.  So did Shelby Foote. 

The funny thing is that as I watch the documentary, which highlights how much things have changed over time, I'm reminded how much things have changed for me over time.

In 1994, I was one year out of college.  (Took me a looong time to finish.)  Most of my friends didn't have very good jobs and if they did, they still didn't pay much, yet.  I was young and hopeful.  Life was pretty good.

My grandmother was a spry 75 years old at the time.  She's still with us, but a lot of others have passed away.  I was years away from having my son. 

So much time has passed.  So much water under the bridge in those 17 years.  My life is nothing like it was back then.  Where did the time go.

This year, the Indians are good again.  They've never really fallen back to their pre-1994 dismalness in the years since.  Modern Indians fans even think of the World Series as a possibility sometime in the foreseeable future. 

The 17 years since I first saw this documentary were largely positive.  I just hope the next 17 will be.  I'm 46 years old, now.  By then, I'll be 63.  My son will be a decade out of High School.  A few more of the important people from my childhood will probably be gone.

It's really been a crappy past few years for me.  The business has been tough.  My marriage is now gone.  My son continues to be a perfect joy in every way. 

It's nice to revisit this documentary with the drama of all the men who played the game throughout the years.  It wasn't always good times.  In the end, though, it was all part of one grand game that brought joy to a lot of people.


Let's hope I can say the same about my life in 17 years.