One of the best songs from the 1980s is called “Boys of Summer,” and it’s by the immensely overrated Don Henley. While Mr. Henley struck gold with the song, it’s not completely certain that he was talking about baseball, but that’s what people identify the term with for the most part.
A photo-finish second place, for hardball-related ditties, goes to “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits and the hyper-talented Mark Knopfler. That song doesn’t even mention baseball in any way, nor necessarily allude to the diamond in the lyrics, but it’s identified with the game because of the baseball-follies video that accompanied it waaaaaaay back when MTV showed music videos. Knopfler is British, so it’s not all that clear whether he is a baseball fan or not.
Meanwhile, I'm 100-percent positive the song "Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie has nothing to do with baseball, but I digress ...
Regardless, we here at The Dickinson Press ARE huge baseball and softball fans and we love music, too, so very soon Josiah Cuellar and I will be bringing y’all a weekly show devoted to those two amazing sports.
Our editor, James Miller, asked me what my favorite sport was to cover and – without missing a beat – my response was “baseball,” and the reason why is quite simple: The game is the most-difficult sport to play out of all those on the face of this planet. Hitting a round ball with a round bat remains the most difficult feat in the world of sports, particularly because the ball curves, rises, dips, drops and slides its way in there, and I don’t care what anybody says about that to the contrary. When, as Ken Burns pointed out, “the most successful players in the game fail 70-percent of the time,” you know you have a recipe for the pinnacle of sports-challenges on your hands, so it might-as-well be recognized as the truth by everybody and save the arguments.
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When I was growing up, girls played slow-pitch softball – like in Sunday church leagues – and that didn’t present nearly half the challenge of the modern version of the game. It’s WAY better now, and there’s not much difference in the pace and flow of the game from its male-counterpart on the, albeit-smaller, diamond. So, both sports are ripe for a brief, 10-15-minute show devoted to the area’s teams and their endeavors. It’s the least we could do.
The show will be available each Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, and will highlight the week that transpired and the games that are coming during and after the weekend. We will try and encapsulate those on the high-school, college and semi-pro levels for you in just a few minutes of your time, and maybe include a guest or two thrown in for good measure every now-and-then. The games will be coming in hot during the next few weeks, so lace up them spikes and get your subscription sooner rather than later.
For example, now that things are FINALLY thawing out, the Dickinson High School softball team is on the road to Sanford Sports Complex in Bismarck today, but has home games scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, April 11) versus Bismarck Century and Friday versus Williston. The baseball team will host Minot on Thursday, but will be on the road at Minot today and at Legacy on Friday. The Dickinson State University baseball team, meanwhile, presents the only opportunities to see the team at home this Friday and Saturday, with a double-header each day starting at 2 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday, as the Blue Hawks host Dakota State University both days.
The softball team, which opened their beautiful new Bravura Field at the Sanford Sports Complex by taking three of four wins over Viterbo on April 1 and 2, will play hosts to Presentation for a double-header on Wednesday and a pair of double-headers on Saturday and Sunday, April 15 and 16 at home versus Mayville State during a weekend homestand.
South Heart High School, meanwhile — which also is in The Dickinson Press's coverage area — will see the softball team on the road this week at Nedrose on Thursday, and the baseball team traveling to Hettinger/Scranton on Tuesday and Beulah on Thursday.
So, as the boys (and girls) of summer (and spring) go through their weekly “walks of life” we hope to chart their progress and round-out their efforts for you. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to send them our way to gparker@thedickinsonpress.com or jcuellar@thedickinsonpress.com . We’d both love to hear from you.
Gaylon Wm. Parker is a sportswriter from Jensen Beach, Fla. and his column appears on Mondays in The Dickinson Press. The opinions are his own, and not necessarily those of The Dickinson Press.
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