A painted illustration of a baseball game with a pitcher in action, a large baseball in the background, and a crowd of spectators. The scene is framed within the outline of a teapot, set against a desert highway landscape with a Route 66 sign and a starry night sky.

42     BALLGAME   

KEY CONCEPTS:  competition, team, honing skills, practice makes perfect, focus, games, attention, keeping score, records.

MESSAGE:  Babe Ruth hit one of the longest home runs in world series history back in 1926,  but it was a Route 66 home team--the St. Louis Cardinals--who persevered to win the pennant that year.  1926 also saw America’s sesquicentennial, and most importantly, the birth of our dear “Mother Road.”  Baseball, America’s favorite pastime, is inextricably interwoven into every alignment of 66.  Mickey Mantle hailed from the small town of Commerce, Oklahoma, on the Route.  The “Commerce Comet” played semi-pro ball in nearby Baxter Springs, Kansas, another stop on 66.

Success in Baseball requires fierce competition.  It gets a bad rap, but it can prove beneficial to spiritual progress.   Games build goals while cementing a solid work ethic.  Perfecting performance prefaces great victories.  As a member of a ball-team we also learn cooperation, putting the goals of the squad ahead of the desires of the individual.  It’s hard work playing ball.  It teaches communication, discipline and focus.  Keep your eye on the baseball, hit a moon shot, and bring all your teammates home.

Keeping score is dandy for a ballgame; as a matter of fact, it’s one objective for play.  In life, your physical form is a scorecard featuring your stats.  Wherever you’ve concentrated focus is what you see today.  What’s your scorecard say about your consciousness?  It’s a mirror reflecting personal growth.  Use competition to rise above internal setbacks like insecurity or complacency.  Let it show you where your true priorities lie. But when you step outside the stadium, set the stats aside.  Spirit doesn’t compare you to anyone else; It loves all of creation.  Could you do everything out of love for the game?  Winning may be part of the fun, but it isn’t the whole Ballgame.

RELATED SITES:  MICKEY MANTLE’S BOYHOOD HOME AND STATUE, COMMERCE, OK ;  BAXTER SPRINGS, KS; WRIGLEY FIELD, CHICAGO IL;  BUSCH STADIUM, ST LOUIS MO;  SAN MANUEL STADIUM, SAN BERNARDINO, CA; BABE RUTH STAYED AT BIG CHIEF ROADHOUSE, WILDWOOD, MO .