let teddy win

Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem. ~Saul Steinberg

its very interesting to me that we (my family) is known for lacrosse.  and clearly, the bayers are lax people.  but the quills are baseball people.  luckily my boys have a bit of both.  like with everything, its a spectrum, where jake played baseball the longest and has the most affinity for it, and josh cares the least, with luke an equal opportunity fan. interestingly tho, they all followed the Nats for my dad.  because HE was a huge fan.  super fan.  season ticket kind of fan.  starting way back when with the Senators.  he was SO absolutely excited when baseball returned to DC, thus creating a slight family division with the Orioles fans in the fam.  But everyone eventually embraced the Nationals because they brought such joy to Pop.

baseball was Pops sport.  and softball. you know what i mean tho.  the diamond played such an
integral part in all of our lives, for pretty much ever.  he played, he coached, he managed and passed all of that on to me, my sister, and my kids.  i cant tell you how many days and weekends were spent on the ballfield - we even roped kris into coaching a couple years.  dad passed his passion for the game on to countless of kids over the years, and his love for the game was evident always. even more so as a spectator.  he never missed a game - whether is was little league, all-stars, travel ball, co-ed or womens league softball. he was always there.  because he LOVED the game.  in all of its forms.  we loved to talk about strategy and lineups.  he could dissect every inning of every game, and would be happy to do so with anyone that wanted to.  everyone that knew him had more than one conversation about ball.  probably more than 100.

The charm of baseball is that, dull as it may be on the field, it is endlessly fascinating as a rehash. ~Jim Murray

when the boys quit playing baseball, it was a hard day in the quill household.  my mom STILL tells jake he should never have quit.  we managed both sports for a couple of seasons, but ultimately the boys moved to lax, and dad became a lax fan - he just never really understood the game.  he watched it for the boys.  but his love was still the diamond.  luckily for us, lisa and i got to spend tons of time with pop as we travelled for softball.  games and tournaments that i will never forget.  we shared so many monday and wednesday nights driving to st marys together, to drink a few beers and kibitz over ball.  if there was a game being played, dad was there.  im so grateful for all the years we got to do that.  to share that love for the game.  and im so happy he got to watch luke start playing.  he was there for his first ever slow-pitch game.  and i could just see how happy it made him to see my boy back on the field.

dad's passion for Washington baseball was one of the things that defined him.  not like his love for his family, but in the way that it was just always there.  9 times out of 10 when he dropped by, his first question would be "did you see the game last night?".  and proceed to break it down by pitch and

inning.  i love that one of the things mom and dad did together was buy season tickets.  its amazing that after all the years of sitting on ball fields watching us, in their retirement, they chose to go watch more ball.  that shared passion is what made the Nats finally winning the world series so amazing. and so bittersweet.  there are so many things dad is missing from a family perspective.  graduations and holidays.  those are so hard.  but we got so many WITH him.  this was something personal.  for him.  we are sorry he was not here to see it because HE would have loved it so so so much.  i think in a way that only those DC guys, that grew up with Senators, really understand.  it was a hometown win in every sense of the word for them.

I may never find the thing I seek, but maybe you will have caught the spirit of my dream. ~Muriel Strode

today is hard.  like so many other days.  but what i am grateful for today is the passion that dad passed down to us. for the game. and for his team.  im so happy he got to bond with Jake over baseball again, and that the family got back on the diamond because we know we would have wanted us to.  i honestly wasnt sure i would ever want to play again after i stopped a few years ago.  and i know dad missed it when we stopped.  but i know now that being out on the field isnt about winning or losing anymore.  its about sharing that experience with MY kids.  keeping his passion for the game alive.  and creating new memories for, and with, the boys.

i am glad the boys get to share lax with their dad.  the way they bond over it is amazing.  and i am so glad i had that same bond with my dad.  its even better that the boys got both.  i miss my dad. so much.  im grateful that each of my boys has a piece of  him. and that these shared moments make us all remember him the same way.  dad was a lot of things - funny, kind, generous being the easiest.  but most of all he loved us with everything in him.  and he shared his passion with us in the same way.  he was all in.  for his family, and his  team. there is no greater tribute to Pops love of the game
than the Nats bringing it home to DC.  teddy finally won.

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers