The Day When Baseball Finally Returns
The baseball world is in a shutdown. The novel coronavirus pandemic has taken away our beloved Texas Rangers and any other sport we love to watch as well. All in one fell swoop.
There's obviously a myriad of more pressing situations right now beyond the world of sports. Americans are being laid off or furloughed every day. While grocery stores are restocking their shelves, buying groceries is becoming harder and harder for so many people. Sports are secondary right now.
When the time is right, sports entering back into our lives will be a beautiful thing. It will give us something to cheer for and help us forget about our lives, even if it's just for a few hours. Just so some of us don't go crazy, that mental escape to watch nine innings of baseball may be the exact prescription we need to maintain our sanity – even if it's from our couches and not the stands.
That first game at Globe Life Field is going to be something special. The talk about whether or not the Rangers should have built a new ballpark will suddenly take a back seat. There will still be those who clamor for the old ballpark. That's fine. It's a beautiful ballpark filled with memories that can't be erased. Those memories should be cherished. The Ballpark in Arlington is a cathedral for baseball and the Rangers gave us plenty of memories there. It should not be forgotten.
Originally, Globe Life Field was going to represent a new era of Rangers baseball. The team is coming out of a rebuild, they're donning new uniforms, which makes the timing all the more perfect for a new ballpark. But now, the first time baseball gets played in this new stadium will have such a larger impact in our hearts and minds.
The return of baseball at Globe Life Field, with fans in attendance, will mean so much more than anyone who designed the ballpark or laid the first brick ever intended. Not only will we be ushering in that new era of Rangers baseball, but we will all experience something unique together. It will be one of those moments where you look back at that day and remember what it was like to get back to normal after this pandemic has dwindled away. It will be a haven of normalcy.
In one way or another, we've all been affected by COVID-19. Some of us are much more fortunate than others in this crisis. The last thing I want to do is downplay that. There are people hurting right now, separated from or losing loved ones. More and more people are out of a job and don't know how they're going to feed their children. People that are still fortunate enough to work are putting themselves at risk every day, wondering if they contract the virus and bring it home to their families. It's heartbreaking.
What baseball – and sports in general – can provide is something where we can all unite together. Our financial status, religion, or political affiliation won't matter. That day when baseball returns at Globe Life Field, we will all be united – those at the ballpark along with those watching at home or in sports bars and restaurants. If this crisis is going to teach us anything as a nation, unity has to be near the top of the list.
The resumption of some normalcy in our lives will be such an accomplishment when the time comes. And may we never take another trip out to Arlington for a ballgame for granted.
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