Gardening and Baseball -- anything in common?

Before getting into my main topic, guess who just called me? Dr. Doo the Prince of Poo! Now before you think I've gone crazy, let me explain. I sent a postcard to Zoo Doo in March, requesting to be entered into their contest to purchase the high quality compost they make out of the zoo animals' poop. My postcard got drawn, and I can purchase two large cans of Zoo Doo! Awesome. I'll go pick it up on Sunday, if Dad's truck is free. Anyone want to help? :)

Alright, now I can start. Y'all know I love gardening, and since most of you who read this are my friends, most of you probably know that I love baseball. I am a true blue Mariners fan. I have been ever since I was little, when my grandfather took me and my dad to a game at the Kingdome. I remember when the Ms went to the playoffs for the first time in 1995, and jumped ten feet into the air when Edgar Martinez hit that beautiful double down the left-field line, and Junior sprinted from first to home in the bottom of the 9th, Game 5, American League Division Series. I was 13. We ran up and down my block clanging pots and pans, celebrating the victory. I didn't have homework for a week.

When great or bad things happen, I either go to a baseball game, or to the woods. It's where I find solace. My bachelor's thesis was a sociological look at Mariners fans, where I came up with my own theory about how baseball creates a sense of community -- not just among those who are at the game, but also among those who listen and watch at home. I got to interview Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus as part of this project, and I've saved the tape. It was like talking to one of baseball's grandfathers. For me, it was really special. Baseball has been my constant, and has kept me company through my travels, my triumphs, and my losses.

My uncle, who died a little over a year ago, used to save anything with a Mariners logo on it for me. He saved newspaper articles, and really anything he could find for me. He didn't have a lot of money, but every time he was at Value Village or Goodwill, he'd bring home an old Mariners hat, a shirt, or a bobblehead of a traded player. We were very different. He was an alcoholic who lived in a trailer park, and I'm a grad student who travels the world. We didn't have a whole lot we could talk about together, except baseball. My quiet uncle and I could have a lively conversation about players, great plays, and the game the night before. I really miss him.

I'm thinking about the connections between baseball and gardening today because I'm sitting at home, listening to the Mariners home opener. I know that not all the things I love have to be connected, but sometimes I try to figure out if there's a common thread running between different activities and things I enjoy. Could baseball and gardening be connected? And could this also be connected to my love of the Balkans? That last one may be a bit of a stretch, but we'll see.

In Seattle, we start our vegetable gardens at the beginning of Spring Training. When all the players have reported to camp, that's when peas and fava beans go into the ground, in February. Throughout Spring Training in March, I was planting spring veggies. All of these will ripen and be replaced by summer veggies by the end of June, before the All-Star break. The main summer harvest is in September, and as I scramble to harvest, freeze, and can tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, my Mariners will hopefully be scrambling towards the finish line and a playoff spot. And in October, as the baseball season winds towards a glorious finish, so does my garden. I harvest the last of the veggies and put the garden to bed as a World Series winner is crowned. Hopefully it'll be anyone BUT the Yankees this year.

So the seasons are basically the same. Baseball season is also gardening season. What else?

Well, here's where the Balkan connection may come in. One of the reasons why I travel is to collect stories. I have some great travel stories, many of them involving misadventures. There's nothing I love more than a good book, too. Baseball is all about stories. Dave Niehaus, the Mariners iconic broadcaster, is constantly telling stories. He tells listeners about plays by painting the scene with his voice. He's so good at putting you in the game that people bring Walkmen to Safeco to listen to him. Every baseball fan has a good story, too. Ask any Mariners fan to tell you about 1995, and you'll see.

Gardeners like to tell stories as well. Although our stories are a little different. We tell stories of giant zucchini, good tomato harvests, hunting slugs at midnight, and how we drove off the pesky squirrel stealing strawberries. Get a group of gardeners together and the stories will fly!

That last one might be a little weak, but I thought of one more. Both baseball and gardening involve a lot of thought. Baseball is a thinking person's game. Entire books have been written about the science of baseball. Baseball requires players to make adjustments to different situations. As a fan, it's rare that I zone out during a baseball game. I usually know what's going on, and keep rapt attention on the game in front of me. Gardening is like a giant puzzle. I have to figure out, for example, what my tomatoes with yellowing leaves need. I have to figure out what's eating my plants and how to stop it. Maybe thought's not what I'm getting at -- it's attention. True baseball fans are attentive at the ballpark. True gardeners tend to their gardens well.

That's what I could think of. But maybe baseball and gardening are just different, and I'm reaching to try to make connections. What do you think?

And the score? 1-0 Oakland. Top of the 5th. 2 outs Figgins-to-Wilson-to-Kotchman beautiful double play. May the Mariners be in 1st place in the AL West by the time I'm harvesting tomatoes.