"Dipped in Magic Waters"

I'll be honest, I love baseball. It's in my blood. I grew up on it. I breathed it. Made some astonishing memories with it. And today, it still has a firm grasp on my very being. I just love baseball.

I love good movies too. There are very few times when these two combine to move me as deeply as does the film, "Field of Dreams." The title says is all, when dreams, persistance, and passion collide, magic can happen. You just have to believe.

"Field of Dreams" was on television this evening, and I was excited to see it. Actually, I was excited all week. I don't yet own a copy (although you can be certain, now that it's out on DVD, that will change!). So I sat down and watched, eager to see arguably one of the greatest baseball stories ever told. I enjoyed every minute of it. But, like I said, I just love baseball. :)

I got to thinking, though -- after I wiped the tear away at the end of the film -- just how deeply rooted the sport is in my own personal life. As a young boy growing up in the Wisconsin countryside (surrounded by cornfields), whenever I played outside, I had my baseball bat and glove in hand. I played it all the time. I probably even dragged my younger brothers into it -- more than they may have liked at times I'm sure. I just had to play baseball.

When we moved to the Minneapolis, Minnesota in seventh grade, thankfully we still had a yard, although a much MUCH smaller one than we had in the country. But we still had room to play baseball. And we did.

When I got into high school, I tried out for the baseball team my freshman year, and made it in. I wasn't nearly as good a hitter as I had been in my own backyard, but I had the speed, the defensive skills, and the eye to get on base. Perfect steal record too. Yeah, that was a fun year.

My sophomore year, the stage and theatre stole me away from the baseball diamond. I couldn't do both. But I still loved the game from afar. I played it through board games and computer simulations (countless simulations actually -- I have the records to prove it!). I tossed the ball whenever I had the chance. I dived into the history. And I followed my favorite Milwaukee team (as I still do today) -- even on "foreign soil".

In college I thought about trying out again, but by now, giving up theatre, acting, and art was no longer an option. So, I continued to be passionate from afar.

But then came the movies...

I often fail to realize this, but my love of acting and the game of baseball are now quite firmly intertwined. When I was younger (shortly after moving to Minnesota) I was part of a baseball movie -- "Little Big League" filmed in the Twins Metrodome. I ate up the opportunity. Baseball and acting.... There's nothing better!

Years later -- now in Milwaukee after college -- I suddenly had the good fortune to find myself part of the upcoming movie, "Mr. 3000" (September 2004). Once again, a baseball movie. Go figure.

I'd come to believe, when I was younger, that the true way to be happy in life is to pursue those things that you live and breath for -- those things you have an intense passion for. I have many of those kinds of passions, so to be able to combine any of them into one is a dream come true.

Ironically, though my days and hopes of playing baseball on any organized or professional level are probably well behind me, apparently acting or participating in baseball films is not. I eagerly look forward to that next opportunity when my love of baseball, and my love of acting, can be one in the same. If practice makes perfect, than passion makes opportunity.

I've been dipped in the magic waters of baseball. I think maybe I'll stay for a while.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 10:34 PM  I   I  0 comments