Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Hot Dogs, Fireworks, and Beer... oh, and Pete Rose in Cooperstown

July 4, 2007

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-7800

Dear Mr. Commissioner:

This evening, my wife and I will take in our second Royals game of the season, and hope for a sweep of the baffled Mariners. Our first game was opening day, our first opening day, to boot. It may seem odd that, at the halfway point of the season, we’re only journeying to “the K” for our second time, but we’ve had a busy spring with things like my graduation, our wedding/honeymoon, a move, etc. Not to mention the fact that she’s in school.

Luckily, thanks to her dad, she grew up a Royals fan. Like football games we watch, she still has a lot to learn about the game, but she’s always eager for the knowledge, and glad to learn it from me. When I tell her about my last game with my late father (Cal Ripken, Jr’s last at Kauffman), I long for the importance of that monumental experience to flow from me into her, for her to experience it vicariously.

I hope for our unborn children to be baseball fans, and it would be great to have my wife and her knowledge paired with mine so that we can be great teachers of the game.

In my estimation, the necessary tools for such education are not all present without Pete Rose in baseball’s Hall of Fame. Pete Rose goes with baseball the way the Fourth of July goes with American families and potato salad. Please consider lifting the ban. Think about Canadian parents spending time with their children on Canada Day. Imagine them telling stories of life as a hockey fan and not being able to use the words “Wayne” or “Gretzky”. Pete Rose, America, and Cooperstown. That has a nice ring to it.

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