Sometimes you leave the game.
But the game never really leaves you.
On Aug. 16, I began rolling my 1991
baseball season replay with the APBA dice and cards game. A week
later, I made the phone call to my Illinois girl that changed a lot
of things. I've written about all that here before. The point is, the
game took a back seat to life; since September, I've made the
554-mile trip to her northern Illinois town 11 times. I'm headed
there again tomorrow and will probably go there each weekend in May.
It doesn't leave much time for replaying the games.
In the seven months and a day since
making the call, I've played 297 games in that 1991 replay for an
average of about 1.3 games a day. I used to play four to five games
a day in previous replays. At this rate of just over a game a day,
I'll finish the 1991 season in about four and a half years. And, as
evidenced by this blog, I've not had much time to even write. This is
the first posting in over a month.
That's okay. Obviously, I'd much rather
be with my Illinois girl than rolling games all day.
The APBA game works that way. It waits
for us to have a life and then welcomes us back when we return,
either for a brief visit or for the respite we need when life changes
yet again. I think that's what draws us to this game.
Most of us became acquainted with the
game as youngsters. It replaced the more “childish” games that
included spinners or playing cards or, in the case of the newer
generations, the video sports games — I'm not talking about those
games now that look like you're watching the action on television,
but those old Mattel electronic handheld sports games that beeped and
booped while we pushed buttons. The move to the APBA game, which
features a more statistically-based concept using cards that
replicate players' seasons and dice, was a step closer to adulthood.
So, we played those games, rolling dice
late into the night, recording games and recreating seasons. But life
stepped in and we put the game aside. Maybe it was a girl in high
school, maybe it was college, maybe a job. Most of us, I dare to
venture, took a break from the game for some time.
But those of us who came back later
understood the concept of the game and its lasting.
And now, after playing the games at a
rapid pace for years, life has come to me.
And I only roll 1.3 games a day on
average, and that's only because I may toss four to five games at a
time when I find myself at the table with the cards in front of me.
But on occasion, we find ourselves back
at the table and we realize why the game never leaves us. The other
day I sat at the table and played several games of my 1991 replay in
a row and found that magic again. I got back momentarily in the
groove of the season, remembering the players and how the teams are
faring in this replay.
For example, Lloyd Moseby of the
Detroit Tigers struck out each of the six times he was at bat against
Kansas City. The Royals won the game, 10-8, and are challenging the
Twins for first place in the American League West Division.
Montreal continued to lose, dropping a
contest to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2, after taking a 2-0 lead in
the bottom of the first when Marquis Grissom, the second batter of
the Expos' frame, clouted a two-run home run.
Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh in the tenth
inning when Chris Sabo hit a game-winning single and drove in Paul
O'Neill. Names from the past. Names we remember watching when we were
younger.
Life came back. Work beckoned and I've
spent a lot of time on the phone with my Illinois girl. And, early
tomorrow, before the sun even wakes, I'm off on my journey again to
her town for a few days. The game will remain here, waiting as it
always does for life to slow down and then the games will roll on
again.
