April 01, 2011
Opening Day
Apparently, fishing season is upon us. I don't fish. I don't recall ever catching a fish when I did go fishing, once on a boat on Lake Erie, once at a stream somewhere, and once in Lake Erie from the Rocky River pier. It would have been memorable, you would think. Fishermen everywhere are cheering the release of trout today.
I guess sitting around waiting for a nibble is something to write home about for some people, but it seems pretty boring to me. I do recall that I was worried about falling overboard when fishing from the boat. It may have been more interesting if I was fishing from the railing instead of the middle of the boat. Everyone else was catching fish, endangering their lives by leaning over the railing and scooping up their prizes with nets. Of course, they never encountered the sea creatures that I did in my reading. And I suppose they lived by the adage, "What you don't know won't hurt you."
Yeah, right. I stuck to playing baseball. There was no danger of drowning for me, at least.
When amateur baseball was a big deal in Cleveland, I played in games at Edgewater Park, where the premier baseball diamond was bordered by Lake Erie down the left field foul line. When our team was ahead in the late innings, when we were hitting, we would try to drive long foul balls into the lake. The balls would be fished out of the water and re-used in the game, since each team supplied only two game balls. Waterlogged balls don't go very far when they are hit; so, part of the strategy was to waterlog the balls to safeguard the lead and solidify our chances for victory. We won the championship that year. The next year, I played on a different team. They thought I was nuts when I mentioned that strategy.
And that brings us to Opening Day of the Cleveland Indians' season. It was always exciting to ditch school and go to the game at the frigid old Municipal Stadium.
Since the Indians moved to The Jake, now known as Progressive Field, I have not been to an Opening Day game. The first week in April is not the time for major league baseball in Cleveland. It's more likely to snow than rain. Today, the temperature might get up to 45 at the airport. But because Lake Erie's temperature is 34, the temperature will never reach 40 degrees downtown.
I trust those going to the game will bring winter clothes along.
Posted by Bill at April 1, 2011 11:10 AM