Baseball aids the healing process
Clark Ruhland, CT Staff Writer
April 20, 2007
Baseball is more than just a game. It's family.
This week's tragedy here at Virginia Tech reaches far beyond the boundaries of the country. But tonight the community will turn to America's pastime for a chance to breathe.
The Hokies and the Miami Hurricanes will take English Field tonight in what is expected to be an emotional game. This will be the first gathering on campus since the candlelight vigil on Tuesday, but there will be a different emotion out there on the diamond.
Pride.
All of Tech's players have held their heads up high over the last two days in practice. They are a family, and they represent Hokies far beyond just those in the stands tonight.
Tech head coach Pete Hughes has not even thought of watching tape of the Hurricanes. His mind has been with his team, who has been at his home every night this week.
Per a team decision, the Hokies will wear a sleeveless white jersey with a black long-sleeved undershirt and one black sock paired with one maroon sock. On the shoulder will be an oval black patch with a maroon "VT" logo with an orange ribbon. The top of the patch is marked with "April 16, 2007" and the bottom reads "We Remember" in white letters.
"I don't like the color black. I think it's morbid, but nonetheless, it's a color of paying respect and tribute," Hughes said. "I'd like for us to wear orange and maroon, because those are the colors we associate with."
We are all Hokies, and today when citizens across the country will don the orange and maroon, our team will not. But their uniforms, the same they have worn all season will have the same maroon VT logo on the chest.
Players will take the field and play the game they have played since they were old enough to tie their own cleats. Baseball is now reaching out to the community, as high as Major League Baseball.
The Washington Nationals, a team whose hats are proudly worn by Tech students on campus every day, did the reverse on Tuesday night. Instead of wearing the red hat with the white "W", they wore nine different colored hats in the field. They may not have looked uniform, but the "VT" logo was.
Chad Cordero, the Nationals' closing pitcher, picked up one of the hats after the game and signed a message on the bill. His teammates took notice and began to write messages of hope on all of the nine caps.
On the Wednesday night, many people began to wonder if the Nationals would once again wear the Tech hats, but John Dever, director of baseball information for the Nationals, had a better idea. He sent them to Bill Roth, who calls Tech football and men's basketball on the radio.
The hats are expected to arrive at Roth's home today, but he has no idea what he'll do with them. One thing is for sure, Roth will find the caps a safe home. They may just be hats, but the thought behind them means more. These players, from across the entire country and the western hemisphere, have no connections to Tech, but they did what they felt was right.
It doesn't stop there. Chicago White Sox workhorse pitcher Mark Buehrle threw his first career no-hitter on Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. During the press conference after the game, there he was wearing a Hokie hat.
Buehrle is from Missouri and plays in Chicago. He has no affiliation with Tech, but other Major Leaguers do. David Wright, the third-baseman for the New York Mets, has a major connection. His brother Steven is a senior engineering major at Tech. It hit home for the fourth year player from Chesapeake, who said he followed the events very closely since his brother is currently a student at Tech.
"Being a Virginian, the events touched me more deeply," Wright said. "The events this week put everything into perspective and you realize that a ball game just isn't that important sometimes."
On the contrary, David. Tonight's game is significant for Blacksburg and the campus. The community identifies itself with the university and the university identifies itself with the community.
Tonight, when all of the ceremonies are over and Adam Redd takes the mound, the game will become just like any other contest. There will be hits, walks, strikeouts and the occasional blown call. But for one night, the game that defines our nation will draw focus on Blacksburg.
It's baseball. It's America's game. Tonight, it's our game.
Let's play ball.