Questions I keep asking in October

From early spring until October many people are focused on baseball. Kids play it on Little League teams or on their school teams. Adults sometimes play it at company picnics and neighborhood gatherings, but many of us hear the results over the 10 o'clock news and haven't paid much attention to the game during the summer.

When I was a girl I was on a rural neighborhood team that played up on the "corner" where Dan Todd created a ball diamond where Highway 43 meets U.S. Highway 54. His daughter, Agnes, was a good pitcher and he was proud of her. My sister, Ellen, played third base and I was proud of her. I played substitute center fielder and no one was proud of me. The most excited I became while we were playing a game was when a ball headed in my direction and I prayed that it would be stopped by the short stop who was my friend, Joyce Kafer. I had no interest in trying to catch it myself. If it was a ball zipping across the grass toward me I tried to get it stopped, but that was the year that I grew 4 inches in one year. Every time I reached down to catch a rolling ball the ground was one-half inch lower than the last time. I had a mixed up childhood. In school in Washington, D.C., I was considered a good athlete. I was even voted outstanding girl athlete in my senior year. When we came out to Vernon County for the summer I couldn't hold my own against my farm girl neighbors, and didn't want to.

But this year we were all getting excited about the game when our own Royals team began to beat the big boys. Suddenly we became belated fans. I am writing this column on Monday, the 27th. At this point it is unknown what the outcome will be. When you read my words you will already know who won the World Series. That term bothers me. If this is the World Series, how come it is never played in Argentina, or Europe? Walt Disney has us all convinced that "It's a Big World after all." But it gets smaller when this contest comes up. However many of the players have names that sound like they may have come from farther away than Kansas or Illinois.

That brings up some more of my questions. How do they choose the players for the team? After watching all the games in this series I am convinced that the ability to spit with emphasis has a lot to do with the choices. They all seem to be chewing something that makes either bubbles or saliva. When I was playing ball I could never clear my chin. Of course we weren't allowed to chew gum in school and I ran out of juice very quickly. I was also told that women players do not have to spit. That's another question. Is this a gender issue? Did Title 9 assure the world that if women were allowed to play competitive sports they would not be included in the competitive spitting?

I have an idea for redesigning the uniforms. I think if I could sew better I would make a fortune. I think there should be a terrycloth bib-like piece sewed onto the tops of the ballplayers jerseys. By the time the game is over each player has used the top of his shirt to wipe his nose, wipe sweat from his face, or dry off his chin. In football the quarterbacks have towels attached to their rears for drying hands before a play. Why couldn't baseball uniforms have the same help?

Last Sunday we watched the Chiefs playing football. They had a bevy of beautiful ladies dancing and cheering the crowd and players on to success. Why aren't there cheerleaders for baseball? The crowd seems to catch the enthusiasm OK without leaders, but it would add some interest on those long innings where all that is happening is hitting foul balls and running back and forth between bases without making any progress.

And when the game is over who gets to clean up all that tobacco juice and chewed bubble gum from the sides of the field where the second string players have leaned over the fence to watch and spit? And why do they all seem to have to chew something in baseball and not in other sports? If football or basketball players were doing that it wouldn't relax them as it is supposed to relax the baseball players. The inside of the football helmet would get pretty messy and hinder the player's vision. The arena or gym's janitors would go on strike if basketball players had this habit. It doesn't take much imagination to see why tennis players, boxers, skiers, ice skaters, or many, many other athletes keep their mouths closed when competing.

After this week I will put my questions to bed and pick on basketball or football. I'll still bask in the glory of our Royals showing the world that "Everything's up to date in Kansas City."