opening day tradition

image via bangsandabun.com

ever since i was a kid, my dad would always put on the movie field of dreams the night before the opening day of baseball season. it was a great way to spend some quality family time together before the first official day of our favorite sport. plus, who doesn't love looking at kevin costner in general, let alone with a baseball glove on. now that i no longer live at home with my dad, we won't be watching together tonight. but that doesn't stop me from reminiscing on one of the greatest monologues of james earl jones's acting career.

Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

Cheers to the beginning of baseball season! GO PHILLIES!!