My Daughter Asked

Our middle child has little or no interest in watching sports of any kind. Correction: no interest whatsoever. To say "a little" would be a big lie. Though a great athlete, this kid cannot sit by and just watch.

One year, we signed her up for baseball in between soccer seasons. As her team was leaving the field between innings, she approached the fence near where my wife was sitting. Like a prisoner so close to freedom yet still incarcerated, her fingers tightly gripping the chain links, she said with all the anger, frustration and desperation an eight-year-old could muster, "Never sign me up for this ever again. All I do is stand around!" To her credit, she did find a four leaf clover while playing centerfield.

My daughter's opinion about the boredom of playing baseball is exactly the same as mine for watching baseball. The only baseball games I ever enjoyed took place in the movies Bull Durham and Major League. World Cup soccer is my sports passion.

On the other hand, our oldest is such a rabid Yankees fan that if she is sitting behind you at a ball game, you might think George Steinbrenner had moved down to the cheap seats. A student in the city of Boston, this young lady has no issues wearing full Yankee regalia, even to Fenway Park.

And that is how I find myself enlisted as a volunteer at MLB's Fanfest this weekend in New York. Fanfest is just what it sounds like, a festival for Major League Baseball fans in the city that is hosting the playoff game. This year of course the game is be played in the soon-to-be-replaced "House that Ruth Built."

There will be players, there will be media, there will be rabid baseball fans. There will be a lot of little kids with whom we'll be working. And each and every one will have only one thing on their minds...America's Bore-time. So why go?

I'm going for three reasons.

1. I will not have to watch baseball.

2. I will not have to play baseball.

3. My daughter asked me if I wanted to volunteer with her.

You see, when you are a father and your 20-year-old daughter asks if you want to do something with her, you do it. You're so thrilled to be asked; you say "Yes!" before you even hear the subject of the question.

"Dad, on the 12th and 13th do you want to go with me to..."

"Yes!"

I've gone for sushi.
I've gone for pedicures (no comments necessary).
I've waited outside job interviews.

Any of these three would be a fabulous alternative to this Fanfest thing. But anytime I get to spend with my daughter is a festival for me. We laugh, we tell stories and we come home with a renewed appreciation for each other.

Now isn't that what baseball is all about, bringing families together?

I'm sure this was not my point when I started. I just got so bored thinking about baseball that I lost track.

ITALIA !ITALIA! ITALIA!