Following the Dodgers from Afghanistan and Other Far Away Places
It was 2010 and I was in a war zone. Never imagining I would be here a mere 36 hours earlier when prepped for the assignment. Afghanistan’s economy had always been fed by the opium poppy. A heroin supplier for Europe and Russia, mainly through smuggling routes flowing northward through bordering Tajikistan.
Hunkered down in makeshift quarters. One hundred degree heat, mosquitos eating me alive. The stench of a latrine permeating the facility. Sounds of mortar fire in the distance. I wasn’t a soldier, but merely an advisor trying to provide anti-smuggling training. Classes were to begin later that morning. It was going to be a long night and my mind was alive with all the surrounding activities.
It was 1:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, which meant it was 1:30 p.m. back home in California, on a Sunday afternoon, May 23, 2010. How to get my mind off the smell, the bugs, the explosions, and the lesson plan to be given? I powered up my Blackberry. “Welcome to Afghanistan,” it flashed. I didn’t have a smartphone then, nor did I know what they might provide, but I could check the score, and I did. Bottom of the first, Tigers 3, Dodgers 0. “Dang! Not a good start!”
I followed the game pitch by pitch. The mortar fire in the background seemed to fade away. The Dodgers lost 6-2 (Rick Porcello over Hiroki Kuroda, with two hits a piece for Xavier Paul, Blake Dewitt, Jamey Carroll and Garret Anderson), but they got me through a sleepless, miserable night.
Probably one of my most memorable evenings was spent explaining the game to an Argentinian soccer aficionado as we watched the Dodgers defeat the Cubs in one of their victorious 2016 NLCS games. Have you ever tried to explain the rules of baseball, in a foreign tongue, all the while having your heart strings ripped apart in a pressure packed elimination game? It is not recommended.
Over the years, while on overseas assignments, it was the dulcet tones of Vin Scully and the magic of the MLB app which helped bring me home from remote African outposts, South American highlands, Eastern European border posts, Asian urban centers and Caribbean Islands. From the Black Sea to the Red Sea. Caucasus to the Andes. Bangkok, Bogota, Budapest and Buenos Aires, the Dodgers made me feel at home each night. Vin’s voice returned me to my childhood and back home.
We need baseball now. As critical as we may be about the various proposals on rescheduling the 2020 baseball season, it needs to be done. The debut of a new baseball season may be the first sign of a return to normalcy in America. Even if the games are played in empty stadiums, or with seven inning double headers, or even with the blasphemous DH. We need the game back. Baseball is America. It is home. It is comfort. It brings a sense of routine that we all need. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll allow us to forget about COVID-19 for a few minutes each day and remember life as we once knew it.
Evan W. Bladh has contributed hundreds of pieces to various Dodger blogs over the years. Currently working in federal law enforcement. His career has spanned 30 years to nine different states and over 20 countries, all the while following the Dodgers with a fanatical curiosity.
