Thursday, July 21, 2011

Baseball Bucket List: PARTICIPATION – Part 2




On Tuesday 9 March 2010 a book was published titled: The Baseball Fan’s Bucket List: 162 Things You Must Do, See, Get, and Experience Before You Die, by Robert Santelli and Jenna Santelli. The book’s table of contents lists all 162 items per the authors’ ranking. I have taken that list and organized it into twelve categories, which I find easier to consider when dealing with the list. I will be presenting each category alphabetically over the course of the 2011 baseball season. The number to the left of each item is its position on the Santellis’ list. Items in red would be of particular interest to Red Sox fans. Today’s category number eight out of twelve is:

PARTICIPATION – Part 2

101 Umpire A Baseball Game
I don’t think this is a part of baseball that I would want to do. Though it is a power position, I know I would feel bad if I completely got something wrong. Such a thankless job, but I’m glad there are people willing to do it.

102 Join The Baseball Reliquary
The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime's unparalleled creative possibilities. The Baseball Reliquary gladly accepts the donation of artworks and objects of historic content, provided their authenticity is well documented. The Baseball Reliquary is supported in part by a grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

112 Hit In The Batting Cages
This would be absolutely fun! I’ve never done this, but I would be willing to try. I’m a right-handed batter and I tend to hit balls down the third base line. The opportunity to improve my swing and perhaps learn how to hit to other parts of the field would be wonderful. An experience to which I look forward to having someday!

117 Play APBA
APBA dates back to the 1930s and a bunch of high-school buddies in Lancaster, PA. The boys played a baseball simulation game invented by one of them, Dick Seitz. His game was loosely based on an old tabletop baseball game called National Pastime. But unlike any previous board game, it combined the randomness of dice with the on-field performances of individual players. The boys called themselves the American Professional Baseball Association. That appellation soon was whittled down to its essential form: APBA. So while APBA is still an acronym for that first baseball simulation league, the word has taken on a meaning of its own. The game is APBA, and the word is pronounced "App'Bah" - a term as slick and condensed as the game.

119 Play In A Vintage Base Ball League
There is a Vintage Base Ball Association which was founded in 1996. The mission and purpose of the Vintage Base Ball Association shall be to preserve, perpetuate, and promote the game of base ball as it was played during its formative years in the nineteenth century and other historic eras. This worthy objective shall be accomplished by the following activities and endeavors: Presenting the game of base ball as it was actually played in accordance with the rules, equipment, uniforms, field specifications, customs, practices, language, and behavioral norms of the period.

125 Play Strat-O-Matic Baseball
Strat-O-Matic produces sports-simulation games that rate real players and teams accurately for professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey, and college football. Strat-O-Matic has the best-selling board games and computer text sims in our field, because we combine statistical realism with life-like strategy decisions in games that can be completed in a small fraction of the time it takes to watch a real game. Our fans keep coming back for more, because each time they play, they know their decisions influence victory or defeat.

132 Delve Into Some Baseball Scholarship
Steaming from the fact that I didn’t know that women played professional baseball until I saw the film, A League of Their Own; I would want to research player and other roles women have had in the game of baseball and their contributions since its beginning.

139 Throw Out The First Pitch
I want to do this!!! The ideal one would be Opening Day at Fenway Park after the festivities of a ring ceremony and the Yankees are the opponents for the game. I’m not sure to whom I would want to pitch – Tek, Wake, Jells or someone else. It would be such great fun and be one of the best baseball experiences I could have.

148 Fix Up A Baseball Field
I think doing this for kids would be great – a real community effort to develop a good place for the up and coming baseball players to have games. It would be a real accomplishment and a field for everyone to enjoy.


Images:
Left: APBA logo from the website apbagames.com
Center: Baseball Reliquary logo from the website baseballreliquary.org
Right: Vintage Base Ball Association logo from the website vbba.org

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