Watch Out Cleveland: A Short Story

One summer’s day in 2014, I borrowed my neighbor’s lawn mower and met my teammates at the batting cage. I began mowing down the weeds, while they raked. Others restretched the netting back across the top of the cage. By the time the afternoon came we had a batting cage and a real sense of pride. From that day forward, we began practicing every day, year round. We talked baseball, walked baseball, lived and breathed the stuff. We shared our equipment and made do with what we had. We turned ourselves from a rag-tag bunch of misfits into a

Thus is the nature of baseball, a fickle game wrought with tradition, the foremost of which is the iron clad law mandating that the game is cruel and will take away as freely as it gives. My father always told me, “Baseball is a game of errors - the best hitters fail seven out of ten times - the key to success is knowing how to deal with the failure.” It is this aspect of the game, its want to frustrate and demoralize the player, that I think has driven most of my

Ever since I could remember, I have always had a great interest and love for the game of baseball. As a kid, I would spend countless hours in the backyard with my grandfather, or even by myself, tossing, hitting and fielding a baseball. When I wasn't in the yard pretending to be Nomar Garciaparra I would watch the Boston Red Sox games on TV with my Grandfather.  Even in my early adolescence, as impatient as most are, I had the patience to sit there and watch the Sox.With my eyes glued to the screen with a look of anticipation fixed on my face ready to mimic my grandfather with the excitement of a home run hit or the frustration of Mo-Vaughn striking out. Call me crazy, but I was addicted, even as a young boy, to Boston Red Sox baseball.

Going…going…gone! As one of America’s greatest pastimes, baseball brings fans from around the world to support their players in competitive games against opposing teams. Known as the “Great American Game,” baseball has transformed history and influenced American culture for many years. Famous professional players, including Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, and countless others have impacted America in matters beyond the baseball field. Robinson, for example, shattered the racial barrier when he became the first African American to play on a professional sports team. Baseball is more than just a game, and it is a lifestyle that has defined my path after high school and molded my character.

Not only are professional baseball players an inspiration; they are also leaders. They have risked life and limb on the field; they inspire us to be better and strive for excellence. For many fans these athletes are

Going to a game in Fenway is a smorgasbord of delightful feelings. Even the walk up to the ballpark is some thing to behold. Walking with hundreds of passionate fans, all decked out in their red sox T-shirts, jerseys, and of coarse that iconic navy hat with the red B on it. I feel like I belong there with this organized group of strangers. There is such a since of family as I see people from the “T” car I was on and chatted with. A few hundred yards ahead I could hear a “Lets Go Red Sox” chant as people around me began to join in

The fans of the game of baseball don’t ease up for anyone. Watch Anthony Rizzo, Cubs all-star first baseman, go on an 0-20 slump, and the crowd boos him. Watch the Yankees future Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter make two errors in a game, and the fans heckle him. Fans of the game tend to view pro athletes as machines, or athletic robots. What they fail to realize is that they are human beings with the same thoughts, love, and family that every other human has.

The River of no return is an Autobiography of Cleveland Sellers. Throughout the book, we get to read firsthand how times were during the Civil rights movement. In ‘The River of No Return’ readers will also perceive the mindset of both African Americans and Caucasian Americans. This autobiography provides eyewitness reports of the strategies and the conflicts in the south that many people have endured for racial justice. Not only does it show the south but it also shows the movement and how it progressed throughout the nation.

In all of their recent seasons, the Chicago Cubs have been surrounded by low expectations. But this year's team saw those low expectations for a different reason than its past iterations. Rather than being like previous Cubs teams whose low

When I was a child the atmosphere of baseball was almost intoxicating to me. The scent of freshly cut grass as it tickles your nose, the sound of the ball whooshing through the air from the mound to the catchers’ glove, and the sudden crack of the bat as it knocks the little leather ball hundreds of feet out into the park. All of my senses are in full joyous glee when I am surrounded by that environment. Unfortunately, I only got to enjoy this atmosphere from the bleachers. I was born with many medical issues, one of which being asthma that did not particularly like the freshly cut grass tickling my nose. I would spend my time in the stands watching my half-brothers and cousins who were much healthier than me live my dream of becoming the next

Although it produced the World Series champion last year, there are only two teams from the NL Central which have a realistic chance of making the playoffs this year. If the Cubs don’t win this division again this season, it would be a leviathan shock. They bring back practically the same club last year which crushed almost everyone they played, with the only real differences being Jon Jay, backup outfielder, replacing Dexter Fowler, starting outfielder, the losses of starter Jason Hammel and fourth outfielder Jorge Soler, and the replacement of trade deadline pickup and free agent loss Aroldis Chapman with Wade Davis. They should get a full season out of Kyle Schwarber, who was injured up until the World Series last year and

Like Blaine, Cleveland and his running mate Governor Thomas Hendricks (Indiana) declared that he was a champion of the average working man. In a pamphlet, Facts for workingmen, Cleveland’s campaign referred to his record as a reformer during the first two years of his first term as governor of New York. In 1883, Cleveland created a bureau of labor statistics to compile information to be used for legislation that assisted the working class. He also passed a bill that established the Tenement House Commission to inspect tenements and to provide safe and healthy conditions. Moreover, in 1884, Cleveland signed a bill to protect the savings of “laboring men and women” in banks. Cleveland maintained that he was an honest man, independent of the

From the grave I can hear Harry Carey saying ”Cubs win! Cubs win!” but the reality is that we will be saying “Maybe next year.” again. I have been an enormous Cubs fan since I was six years old. I attend two games every year, and I attempt to watch every game they play. This year they are one of the best teams in the MLB their record is 100-56, as of September 27, 2016, the Cubs seem like they are capable of winning the World Series. My desire is for the Cubs to win, however, I doubt they will be victorious. The Cubs will not win the world series because the stats are against them, the team is still inexperienced, and the superstitions get into the heads of the fans and players.

The sport is such an integral part of our culture today that we Americans sometimes take for granted its significance in our everyday lives. Contemporary baseball is so closely related with American ideals and identity that it often has served as an expression of patriotism. In times of national hardships, baseball has been used to encourage and rally the nation. In speaking of the emergence of America's nationalism in the historic and contemporary playing field, there are several key issues that surface. Of these issues I will specifically address the long residuals of how baseball has helped to establish our (Americans) national spirit and identity. That is the links between our heritage and national institutions and the game of baseball as a cultural and political representative abroad and unifying tradition at home. I will also address ideals and injustices. That is how baseball's acceptability has changed over time, and how this acts as a microcosm for America's changing attitudes about equality and opportunity.

Furthermore, the competitiveness of the game helped to bring people together by creating a common goal of winning. This helped create camaraderie among people who may have differed. These people might have differed in race, beliefs, or a number of other things. However, baseball was the uniting factor that brought them together