Baseball

    "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America," said Jacques Barzun, "had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game."

    Why not? Isn’t baseball the great American pastime? Why shouldn’t we learn more about ourselves, our hearts and our minds? Why shouldn’t we look to the game once said to represent America and her people more than any other human activity? Mom. Apple pie. Baseball is a game of rules. And realities. You can’t play the game without rules. In fact, you can't play any game without rules. You can’t even get people to try a game if you’re going to make up the rules as you go along. You might play a lot of solitaire, but you won't play anything like baseball.

    Rules are necessary. Not arbitrary rules but fixed rules. Reasonable rules. Fair rules.

    Realities. They simply are. Realities reveal what’s true about us, what we want, what we are willing to give up to get what we want … that sort of thing. What are the realities of baseball? What do we want when we play? What are we willing to give up? Can we win, for example, if we don’t play by the rules? What are the realities of baseball? What are the realities of life?

    Rules and realities – that is baseball for certain.

    One team at bat. The other on the field.

    One batter at a time. One pitcher on the mound. One man each on first, second, and third. Three in the outfield, right, left, and center. Short-stop and catcher. Nine players on the field, one at bat.

    Realities that cannot change. Rules that don’t give in to public pressure … regardless of the bleeding rhetoric. Three strikes you’re out. Four balls you walk. The same rules apply to everyone.

    Some say that’s what America is all about … that baseball and America are alike ... that we need to get back to the rules and realities ... just like baseball.

    In baseball there are fixed rules. The realities resulting from those rules are reliable. Every person gets a chance at bat. None are favored. Every player gets his turn. Three strikes. Four balls.

    The game may be too simple for the highly educated, too commonplace for the political aristocracy, to simplistic for the erudite few who can afford to graduate from New England law schools. Still, we can learn a lot from baseball’s simple rules and realities. We can learn who The American People truly are … or ought to be.

    We don’t have to play baseball to be Americans. We don’t even have to like the game. We do, however, have to live our lives according to rules. The rules by which we share our playing field should give everyone an equal chance at bat, equal access to justice, equal opportunity to engage in business enterprises for profit, equal hope for a home and reasonable prosperity in later years, equal obligation to share the tax burden.

    If the game is going to get us the peace and prosperity we want to share, the rules and realities need to be observed not only by all the players but also by the umpires and referees -- our congressmen, senators, judges, legislators, governors, mayors, and presidents as well.

    Good leadership doesn’t change the rules. Good leadership doesn’t whitewash reality for the sake of getting votes.

    Many people are not happy. A growing number are angry about changes forced on them by public leadership. Many of the latest laws were passed in the name of a so-called world order, a global government, and international economy that favors giant corporations … something altogether different from baseball ... something altogether foreign to "The American Way". Outbreaks of public rage and hostility reflect discontent with changes. People are screaming for better government, more responsive services, more protection, more assurances, more assistance for the team that’s fallen behind. Referees grant secret favors to supporters, while the rest of us battle the best we can just to stay in the game against unbalanced rules and distorted realities.

    None are favored in baseball … that great American sport. Everyone gets to be "up" when the time comes to score the winning run for our team. Everyone gets a chance in baseball. Three strikes and you're out. Four balls and you walk.

    There’s a pecking order out there on the field, too. It makes no allowances for weakness. It has to do with one’s abilities, talents … things we don’t all of us have equally. Some can catch a fly ball with their eyes closed and their pants falling down. Others couldn’t stop a slow grounder if life depended on it. Each of us is different … just like each of the nine baseball players on the field is different. Each has a different job to do.

    But every one of us should enjoy our fair turn … no exceptions.

    When it’s your turn to step up, it is your turn and yours alone. You should get just as many pitches, just as many balls, just as many strikes as the next player. The rules of baseball apply equally to all.

    The rules of America's courts and the courts of the world should do the same.

    For very interesting reasons, we’ve seen judges and politicians granting tax-supported favors for some while piling unbearable burdens on others. This has been going on for more than 40 years, but there seems to be more of it lately. More favoritism. More criticism of lawyers. More "Big Brother" and the growing threat of a single global government. Less personal liberty. Continuing loss of confidence in our courts and the legal system generally.

    The present trend grows worse with each session of Congress, each new president, each new Supreme Court decision ... and the people are dismayed.

    The baseball umpire still shouts, "Play ball!" but politicians are shouting, "Don't throw curve balls to blue players. Don't throw fastballs to red players. And, above all, be certain to walk all yellow players because life has been so difficult for them."

    We’re definitely playing a game in this country … but it isn’t baseball.

    In baseball, both teams get nine tries at bat, nine innings, three outs per inning. In baseball, each team gets three strikeouts, tags, or caught fly balls ... and that retires the side. In the America George Washington and millions of others fought for, nobody gets an advantage. Nobody!

    That's how it should always be in civil court.

    It’s like baseball. Neither team has any advantage beyond its own players' skills and talents. At the beginning of a baseball game, a coin is flipped to see who starts. That’s fair. First team up is never last team up. If your team bats first, the other team gets to bat last. Both sides have an equal shot at winning. Referees rule fairly, because the rules are fair … and fixed.

    That’s what makes baseball the All-American sport.

    Each batter takes his turn in rotation. Equality rules.

    God made some folks very tall, some short, some keen-eyed and agile. Others are kind of slow, clumsy on their feet, hard-of-hearing. On the field, we see that some make better shortstops, while a few belong in right field or guarding third base. Only a few are pitchers or really great catchers.

    You cannot play baseball if everyone insists on pitching or if some insist on getting more than three unsuccessful swings at the ball.

    Stars play better baseball than nerds and couch potatoes. What kind of dumb rule would it be to prevent better players from doing their best on the field?

    Shouldn’t everyone have an equal chance? Isn’t that the way it ought to be?

    A number of our nation’s judges, lawyers, bar associations, and private think tanks are urging exceptions to the rules so near-sighted players can catch and ones with weak arms can have their turn on the pitcher’s mound. These new world order referees propose a new game … it isn’t baseball. It isn't American.

    Don't put up with it!

    If you must go to court, make certain the rules are American ... like the rules of baseball ... fair to all players ... even-handed ... no favors to either team.

    Resolve conflicts peacefully.

    Make everyone play by the rules.

    Learn the rules for yourself.

    Use Jurisdictionary tutorials.