My father has never watched as much Major League Baseball as he has this season because I watch every Texas Rangers game and he’s content to watch them with me, even when I tell him he can watch something else. 

It’s a function of him getting older and way more laid back than he’s ever been. In his younger days there’s no way he’d sit through “boring” baseball games every night. But nowadays he doesn’t mind it so much and it’s a lot easier since the Rangers are having such a great 2023 season. He likes a winner even despite being a die-hard Cowboys fan. 

One of the things I find amusing about watching a game I’ve played and watched my whole life with someone who has never really cared is his takes on different aspects of the game. 

A good example is the other night when we were watching a game being played at Fenway Park in Boston. 

Fenway is famous for the “Green Monster”, a 37-foot wall in left field. 

When dad saw it he said there’s no way anyone could ever hit one over that wall, it’s too tall. 

It seems logical if you’ve never watched that many games in Boston but if you have you know it happens all the time because even though the wall is 4 stories high, it’s so close in that it doesn’t take the most majestic home run you’ve ever seen to get one over the monster. It’s an optical illusion in that way. In a game where guys regularly hit the ball 400 feet, it only takes a 320 or so foot shot to clear the 310-foot distance from home plate to the wall down the line. 

One of these days I’ll show him some of the most famous home runs hit over the wall but until then have a great one and thanks for reading.