I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t like playing baseball on the Fourth of July when I was a kid. It was the only time during the season that you played multiple games during the sweltering heat while other people were enjoying the holiday away from the ballpark.
Another reason was family. I usually had around a dozen cousins who made their way to Kentucky to celebrate the Fourth. They got to swim or eat while I was chasing down fly balls or running the bases. I wanted to visit with family that I would only see once or twice a year. And of course, play in the family softball game in order to win bragging rights until the family football game on Thanksgiving.
But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized this wouldn’t be an issue in modern times. While families still get together to celebrate the Fourth, where did baseball on the Fourth of July go?
Sure, my social media timeline has the occasional post about a travel team (mostly softball) playing in a tournament out of state. But what my timeline doesn’t have are posts from Ruff Park or the Trigg Complex or the VFW Park in Princeton or Lee Jones Park in Eddyville. No pics of kids playing baseball. No videos of home runs or good catches.
In Trigg County, July Fourth meant spending the day at the Complex. Showing off your arm at the Lion’s Club dunking booth. Trying to win a cakewalk. And playing baseball.
Youth leagues used to tie in their league’s postseason tournament with the Fourth of July in order boost attendance for their fundraisers. It was also a time where you could squeeze in multiple games in one day and be able to finish your season before the All-Star circuit began.
Somewhere it all changed.
Youth league seasons stopped playing into July and with it, the local Fourth of July baseball tradition faded. Instead of going to the ballpark, families go to the lake or the pool. Instead of finding a schedule of baseball games involving their kids, people find a schedule of firework shows. And ballparks sit unused.
You know where else you can’t find baseball on the Fourth? On television. I can watch a tennis match, a poker game, classic basketball and football games, cornhole, and beach volleyball on the Fourth, but gone are the days of watching the Cubs on WGN or the Braves on TBS. Now, you have to have a special satellite package now to watch baseball most of the time, not just on the Fourth.
As you grow older, there are traditions that go by the wayside that you didn’t appreciate enough. Some may involve family. Some may involve sports. Some may involve church. For me, it was playing baseball on the Fourth. I never learned to appreciate it until it was too late.
Those are the traditions you bring up in conversation and ask, ‘Remember those good times? Whatever happened to that?’
Remember baseball on the Fourth of July? Whatever happened to that?