QOTD 130: They'll come, Ray.

Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around", you'll say, "It's only $20 per person". They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it:for it is money they have and peace they lack.

And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”

Happy opening day! What are your favorite baseball memories? What's something casual fans don't pick up on that die hards wish they could impart upon them?

I'm a horrible baseball fan in that I appreciate it more in theory than in practice, but I do think this bit from Olbermann is pretty cool regarding MLB baseball in a post 9/11 world:

"A policeman recognised Olbermann. ''How are you, Keith?'' the cop asked.

Olbermann replied he was all right and asked the same of the policeman.

The cop told him he was worried: ''I'm worried about the Mets.''

The newsman was astounded. How on earth could the fortunes of a baseball team possibly matter?

''Well, it doesn't matter,'' the cop replied. ''Of course it doesn't matter. I've got 300 friends dead."

''It doesn't matter. But tonight, at 7 o'clock, and all day the rest of today, I can look forward to 7 o'clock, where I can put my feet up and pretend it does matter.''