The game of baseball is a kids' game that never leaves your heart once you let it in. That's why, in the vitality-restoring waters that is the game of baseball, a 'kid' refers to anyone between the ages of 5 and 105. From the 8-year-old Little Leaguer, putting on his uniform for the first time, to the 40-year-old Major League veteran who is wondering if this will be the last time he wears one. Then there are the 60-year-old managers and coaches who have so much knowledge and enthusiasm for the game that they cannot bear to do anything else but pass along that knowledge. The Fountain of Youth doesn't stop with the people in the game either. Fathers and grandfathers all over tell stories of games and players of years gone by, returning them to the days when they were young and life was so much simpler. Is it a coincidence that both spring training and the Fountain are associated with Florida?
Satchel Paige pitched in a game when he was 59 years old, Minnie Minoso played when he was 57, and more recently Jaime Moyer pitched in the 2008 World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies, at the age of 45. All of these players might have seemed old by sports standards, but in their hearts they knew that they still had what it takes to be competitive. They had the drive and determination to step onto a baseball diamond, on a warm summer day, and pick up a baseball again; just like they have thousands of times since they were little. Moyer's manager in that 2008 World Series was 64-year-old Charlie Manuel who gained near "rock star" status in Philadelphia after leading the Phillies to their first World Series Championship in 28 years. Before that, what baseball fan could forget the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston when Ted Williams, appropriately nicknamed "The Kid", threw out the first pitch. Williams was driven in from centerfield on a golf cart as thousands of fans stood and cheered him. When he got to the mound All-Stars past and present greeted him with handshakes and hugs. Then the 80-year-old Williams, who had suffered two strokes and a broken hip, stood up, and delivered the first pitch of the game. He shook hands and talked baseball with the surrounding players there, and for that moment he was "The Kid" again.
Growing up, many rookie baseball fans cannot wait for their fathers to get home from work to play catch in the backyard. There is something about tossing a baseball back and forth that bridges that gap in life between generations and sticks with you well into adulthood. Warm, sunny spring afternoons tossing a ball and hearing stories of days gone by. Looking at Dad's old bubblegum cards, hearing the stories of players that you have never heard of until then, and listening about how your grandmother threw away a lot of his best cards because she felt that he grew up from collecting them. They become snapshots in your memory, almost like ghosts in your mind, of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams until you wake up one day and you're the one bridging that gap between your generation and the next. It is part of the game that keeps those who allow it to stay young forever.
Ponce de Leon may have never found the Fountain of Youth in his travels to a new land, but that didn't stop him from searching. Baseball may not be the cure for wrinkles and grey hair either, but as long as the game continues to be the "Great American Pastime" there will always be an "old timer" willing to share his stories of days when he was a young man and couldn't wait until spring. Dad's old cards may become faded and worn, but that just adds more vibrant color to the memories and stories behind them.
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