The things we miss about baseball

It’s May 9, 2020. Maybe in the year 2070, 50 years from now, someone will read this and understand what we’ve been going through as baseball fans the last two months.

We are sensitive to know that complaining about not having baseball when people are sick and dying is silly. However, all of our lives have been impacted by this damn virus, whether we have it or not.

And it sucks. It’s awful. It’s just a nightmare.

I went to the store Friday, which is always a religious experience these days. I dread it like snake, and I hadn’t been in 17 days. When you’re out of milk and bread, and who am i kidding... cookies, you’ll do things you don’t really want to do.

It’s incredible to walk around and see everyone in masks. Thank God most were yesterday. Some still don’t care about my safety, but most were being careful, at the least.

Where are we? How did this happen? This is something that is supposed to happen centuries from now, when we’re all dead and gone. But we’re living it on a daily basis, praying that this will somehow end so we can get back to normal, even if the normal will be new.

I’m a sportscaster with no sports, having to instead come up with content for TV, radio and the internet that makes me feel like I’m simply filling time. It’s not that it’s necessarily bad content, since it’s all we can do at this point. It’s just not scores. It’s not games. It’s not always fun, and I can’t help but admit I miss something I really love.

I’m sitting on my back deck, hearing the birds chirp and watching the tops of the trees sway back and forth from a slight breeze. It’s 67 degrees. This is spring. It’s a perfect day, but something is missing.

I have refrained from looking at the Braves schedule. Sure, I wonder who they should be playing almost every day, but maybe the knowledge of who it would be would sting even more. This is the kind of day that would be great to watch a ballgame, something like game two of a three-game series with the Phillies. And it’s not here.

I miss waiting for the lineups to come out every day. When my radio show ends during the season, the Braves broadcasts take over. By the time I get in my car, Jim Powell is usually hosting the Brian Snitker report. I love listening to what the manager has to say before each game.

The first pitch is usually something to always see. The days of sitting and watching all nine innings of games are over. Not many do that anymore. We’re either working or eating dinner or talking on the phone or something. But that first pitch always means something to me.

I miss even the mundane middle innings of a ballgame, when a game can sometimes be defined. I miss watching the starting pitcher, to see how long he can go and if the manager will ignore the pitch count and do what’s right - and these days that usually doesn’t happen.

Wonder how many late-inning comebacks we would have by now. Aren’t they fun? I left the Braves-Phillies game last season on that Friday night when Brian McCann had that game-winning hit in the ninth inning. Oh, what I would do for one of those right now.

I love stressing about the bullpen, which I fully expected to not do as much this season. But it’s what we do as Braves fans. I miss the postgame press conference, to hear what the players and manager think about the game. You learn a lot by listening to those interviews.

And, man, do I miss trade rumors. Good grief we can’t even have trade rumors since we can’t have trades. I miss watching the minor leagues, to see who may get that first call to the show and who might contribute later in the year.

I miss watching the highlights, whether I’ve seen the game or not, and whether it’s on my phone, laptop or on TV. I miss hearing baseball talk from others, whether I’m scanning the Internet or even seeing what things people are talking about on social media.

I talk about baseball for a living, by analyzing every game, usually too much. That’s what I do. And not being able to do it, when this is when we’re supposed to be doing it, hurts.

Baseball for some of us is a way of life. It is part of our life. We may not grab the newspaper every morning anymore and peruse the box scores like we used to, but we find some new-age way to keep up with it regularly. And when that regularity has been paused, it’s just not right.

That might make us whine and complain a bit, so forgive us. This is not fun.

It’s time for me to go in and search for something on television. The old games are getting older to watch by the day, and I’ve watched the Andy Griffith Show so much I’m even starting to enjoy the colored episodes.

Yes, I need baseball. Soon. Quickly. At some point. Or I’ll be writing another one of these articles in a few weeks when I once again have nothing else better to do.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.