Last night Earl and I attended a Silverhawks baseball game in South Bend. We’d been there before and found the venue charming. It’s not expensive to see a ballgame, the hot dogs are decent, there is beer everywhere, and the team members play their hearts out.
The Silverhawks are a Class A team, which means they are the lowest rung of the baseball ladder. From there, every player wants to get to Double A, then Triple A, and then the Majors. But this is where they all start. According to Earl, most of the team members are just out of high school. And maybe that’s why they play so hard; they see their lives ahead of them and want to make it to the Big Game if possible. The Big Game then leads to Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame years down the road.
We enjoy seeing a Silverhawks game as much as we enjoy seeing a major league baseball game. The stakes are different, but no less important; and there’s much less media hype. It’s not about whether the Cubs are losing while playing to sell-out crowds or whether the White Sox can repeat last year’s World Series. Rather, it’s about going out to the old ballfield and relishing a good game, regardless of the teams and their standings. The players might feel a greater pressure, but we do not.
Seeing the Silverhawks is about being able to share baseball with your children because it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to get into the stadium. It’s about being outside in the summer air while the team you’re rooting for makes a grand slam. It’s about home-grown nostalgia.
Currently the Silverhawks are in second place in their division. Maybe they’ll move up, maybe not. It may matter to the players, but it doesn’t really matter to the attendees. Baseball is baseball; and just enjoying a good game is reward enough.
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