Class

Getting early to the ballpark, you get to see things you wouldn't otherwise notice. Baseball, and most sports, aren't just about stepping out onto the field and playing, but involve lots of preparation, warming up, and repetition. TV doesn't give you that, nor does radio, but by being at the ballpark an hour or so before the game you see ballplayers for who they really are, and the effort they put into what they do.

Arriving an hour or so before the Padres-Mariners game on Wednesday, however, I was struck by an image of respect that I had not seen before. As soon as the national anthem is over players and fans return their focus to the game, yet this time, while the color guard marched off, the players from the Mariners stood at attention, just as I had been taught to do as a little one, until the color guard had exited the field.



In some small way I gained an added measure of respect for them who, in their own individual way, are trying to keep sacred things they view as sacred.