Stacey’s M.M. Post: Baseball

“Peanuts for sale! Get your fresh hot-roasted peanuts for sale!” I hollered.

“How much?” asked my Grandfather, indulging my childhood play.

“Fifty cents,” I replied.

“Oh, that’s a good deal Morris. Buy two!” My grandmother replied.

“Here’s one dollar Staceleh,” my grandfather said.

“Thank you sir,” I said as I handed him the imaginary bags of peanuts. And then, I’d walk off into the hallway, only to return a few moments later and do it all again.

My grandfather loved watching baseball. And I loved my grandfather. So, I would do whatever it took to hang out with him during a televised baseball game when he and my grandmother came to our house every June. However, garnering my grandfather’s attention was pretty easy since I was his one and only grandchild. Even though he’d keep his eye on the game, he’d always make time to buy some imaginary peanuts when I pretended to be a vendor after my first trip to Shea Stadium at the age of three. By the time I was five, he began explaining the game of baseball to me. It was from him that I learned what R, H, and E meant. It was from him that I became fond of the great American pastime.

My Grandpa Morris used to watch the games from a chair in the living room. Secretly, I think he would’ve liked to have had seats at every game. But his location (Southern Florida) during the later years of his life precluded him from attending MLB Games. As this baseball season comes to a close, so does the use of two New York City Stadiums (Shea and Yankee). When I think about the new stadiums that are being built, I immediately think of my grandfather who I know would have loved to have visited them.