THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503090196
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Jeff Zeigler
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Despite the rain over the last few weeks, the sights, sounds, and smells of baseball are finally in the air. The crack of the bat. The chatter in the infield. The smell of the horsehide. And I'm not talking about Major League Baseball, either.
Local high school and college baseball teams have been practicing now for the past month and the high school baseball season opens Tuesday. It's a reminder of what could be a season lost in the big leagues. But it's getting harder and harder to care each day.
We hear daily news reports about both sides of the Major League Baseball strike and their unwillingness to bargain. All they are hurting are the fans, the ones who pay the salaries to the players and pad the pockets of the owners.
Whether or not the ``real'' players come back or the ``scab'' players take the field in April, it would be interesting to see if the fans would go on strike, just for one season.
Forget about the major league opener in Cincinnati and go to the Edenton-Holmes-Camden County opener in Edenton on Tuesday.
Forget about money-grubbing pitchers like Roger Clemens and Bret Saberhagen and watch Currituck County's Cory Scott and Perquimans County's John Nixon hit the catcher's mitt with a puff of dust.
Forget about the confines of Wrigley Field in windy Chicago and head out to the Currituck County High School baseball field where stiff breezes blow off the Currituck Sound.
Forget about the exorbitant ticket prices at Yankee Stadium and the Skydome and pay $2 to $4 to watch players who really want to play.
Three dollars and 50 cents for a beer? Two-fifty for a hot dog? Stop on down to the 7-Eleven and pick up a Big Gulp for the next Northeastern High School contest.
Baseball is just a game, but it's been made a big business, one that the average American can't afford. You can still watch on TV (if you have cable). But how many people can identify with a player like Barry Bonds who stands to lose $25,000 a game when the average American makes less than that in an entire year?
I sure can't. by CNB