PLAY BALL!
The Old Sergeant was sitting under some shade watching his platoon playing a sand lot game of baseball with some of the locals when the Padre happened by.
“Pappy, mind if I take a load off?”
“Of course not, Padre, pull up some sand.”
They watched the game in a companion like silence.
“What a wonderful game, loaded with so much history,” the Padre said. “A truly American game, invented by Mr. Doubleday I believe.”
“Uh, well Padre. That ain’t exactly correct. Everyone believed that for many years and Abner Doubleday’s picture even hung at the Hall of Fame for a long time. They also say that Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892) of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball but others even doubt this.
“And Baseball was based on the English game of rounders. Rounders became popular in the United States in the early 19th century, where the game was called ‘townball’, ‘base’ or ‘baseball.’
“In June 1953, Congress officially credited Cartwright with inventing the modern game of baseball, and he is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“So I guess no one knows for sure who invented the game. I personally think it just evolved.”
Pappy grunted, “But I do know this; the military and baseball go back a long way. Soldiers of the Continental Army played a form of ball at Valley Forge during the American Revolution and During the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides played baseball to pass the time between battles. In 1941 Armed Forces team was established to boost morale during WWII but interest fell off until 1990.
“And all of us know of famous baseball players who went to war: DiMaggio, Stan the Man Musial, etc.
“Then in 1990, at the request of the first President George Bush, FL. Captain Van Goodloe appoints ENS Allvord to re-establish the military baseball program to boost morale.”
“Mercy Pappy!”
Pappy just smiled. “Well the army and baseball are two of my passions, Padre. Did you know there is a team now called the U.S Military All Stars? They are a non profit and their mission is to promote the awareness of all Americans in support of the honorable sacrifices our brave men and women make at the ‘Tip of the Spear.’
“Hey they ain’t bad either. They play all over the world with the best of the best picked from all the services.”
They watched the rest of the game in silence and in the end the locals beat the Americans 21 to 3.
Steve Newton © 2008
stevenewton69@hotmail.com
Special thanks to Wikipedia
And
Terry Allvord, USN (Ret.) BOSTON BASEBALL ALL-STARS, LLC
Nokona Park at Historic Holman Stadium
www.usmilitaryallstars.us
www.americandefenders.us