The Grasshopper Reader Letter, 10/26/24
A fall like no other, and the World Series
The Grasshopper Reader Letter, 10/26/24
Exhilaration, existential dread, and the World Series
My last post reflected the darkness many of us feel as we contemplate the election and the fate of the nation. We’ve been bombarded with tales of fear, and oration celebrating hate and intolerance by one side. The other tries to cut through with a vision of a future without all of those things.
I have no idea how this will play out and that’s a source of that existential dread in my title. But outside the fall leaves are right at peak and the color is uplifting in the clear sharp air with sunlight pouring in at sharper angles each day. The trees literally glitter as golden leaves shower down outside my apartment windows.
It’s hard to stay negative in the face of such splendor. But then, always too early, the sun sets and it’s dark. Last week we had a glorious full moon and my nighttime walks were illuminated, but now the darkness is dense.
These are the internal and external aspects of fall, especially this year. I’ve been documenting my reactions to the startling events that seemed to come every day as I track the election. And the weather, unusually warm here but unusually deadly across much of the nation and the planet.
In the face of such contrasts, we have a man seeking to divide us for no other reason than to grasp power so he can bask in the attention and pomp it offers. Not unlike any addiction, his need trumps all other things and to acquire it he will sacrifice any shred of decency and civility. Or basic humanity.
These words reflect the conflict I feel, that nearly everyone I speak with shares. It’s a test of the optimism that is my normal nature.
Fall is also the season of the final games of baseball, the ritual sporting event we call The World Series, though there are no teams from outside the US. But many of the players come from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Japan, including many of its superstars. And this year the Series is a monster matchup between the LA Dodgers and the NY Yankees, both teams packed with those superstars.
I’m an end of season sports fan and a New Yorker so I’m rooting for the Yankees, a team many love to hate. And many older New Yorkers feel the same way about the Dodgers, once the Brooklyn Dodgers, until they betrayed their loyal fans and decamped for Los Angeles.
Baseball is a sport that loves its history and this matchup reflects that fascination. These two teams are facing each other in the Series for the first time in over forty years. Last night’s opener was a nail biter and a pitcher’s battle that ended with that rarest of things, a walk off grand slam.
For my non-baseball fan readers across this little planet, that can only happen in a tied game that will end when the tie is broken by a run. But a walk off Grand Slam is far more than a tie breaking run. The bases must be loaded and the batter must hit a home run. The result is so definitive that none of the runners has to run, they just walk the bases, score their runs, and the hitter can calmly walk the bases, victororious.
Of course there was nothing calm about it. The fans went nuts and so did the winning team, those Dodgers. I’m not thrilled about the loss but it’s just the first game and it was as good as it gets (it is a best of seven series of games).
Given the dark events mentioned above, I’m very happy to have the distraction of the Series, especially one with my preferred team and great players on both sides. It’s about as sporty as I get these days.
Politics is a blood sport and this year is the bloodiest I’ve seen. Researching and writing about it can be enough to make anyone nuts, but it’s also our Democratic experiment being tested, after enduring for hundreds of years. We have had many of these tests and have survived, sometimes barely, a comforting thought.
Sort of. But at least I have a game to watch tonight that isn’t affected by politics and boiling anger. Yes, fans can be nasty, especially in New York, but we know it’s just a game. A few days and it will be over.
Thanks for reading, as always,
Martin Edic
If you ‘like’ this, please consider supporting my writing with a small donation through Buy Me A Coffee, a site for supporting creators, or by upgrading to the paid subscription option. I realize not all readers can afford to help out and that my writing needs to earn your support, so all my content is available to all subscribers. Thank you, ME