As the rest of the league settles in for a healthy slate of afternoon games, the Baltimore Orioles are idle. It’s the first time in my lifetime that I remember them being off on the Fourth of July. But they aren’t the only team who isn’t playing today. There are others.
I suppose that since this year it falls on a Thursday it shouldn’t totally come as a surprise that some teams are idle. However the Orioles are currently in Canada where they’ll open a three-game series tomorrow night at Toronto. Incidentally, Toronto got the luxury of playing a home game today – on the Fourth of July, in Canada. How does that work out?!
However the day off hopefully gives the Orioles, and Orioles fans, the opportunity to reflect on why we celebrate today as a holiday. It’s not just a day off to watch baseball, eat hot dogs, and watch fireworks. It means something.
Americans are some of the folks who fought back against tyranny. The likes of the colonists said no, not on our watch to tyranny. And every generation of Americans since then has reaffirmed that premise. We stand for our country, and against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Well over 200 years after 1776, here we are celebrating yet another Fourth of July. This experiment called America is still going strong. It’s still kind of a thing. And baseball’s just another personification of that, as it.’a our national pastime. May that always be the case.
Birdland Crush 