Now it is 1999 and the National Pastime is on the brink of stepping up to the plate in its third century. Their likable superstars, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, captured the imagination of fans around the nation last summer with their astonishing, history-making home run race. Yes, the game has evolved considerably since a fellow named Cy Young won 26 games for the Perfectos a hundred years ago. Players are bought and sold for grotesque sums of money, teams from smaller cities are struggling for survival, and Joe DiMaggio has left and gone away. But the essence of the game is unchanged.
Baseball is still about hopes renewed and the arrival of springtime.
And the ballparks still sport a glorious, ethereal green when one walks through the turnstile and out into the sun on Opening Day.