the time has come for one and all to play ball

During this trip one thing has become abundantly clear: Most of my knowledge of baseball comes from pop culture.

Seinfeld fills most of my brain; everything from Keith Hernandez's "magic loogie" to the cartoonish exclamations of "George Steinbrenner." To me, Joe Dimaggio was part of a Simon & Garfunkel lyric before he was a Yankee slugger. Ted Williams: the guy in the Nissen Bread commercials. The "Miracle Mets" are a piece of the puzzle Will Smith and Josh Brolin are trying to solve in Men in Black 3.

So while the Baseball Hall of Fame was a quasi-religious pilgrimage for my fiance-- a huge baseball fan-- for me it was another opportunity to quote television and movies.

I gleefully reminded him that "there's no crying in baseball" while viewing the Women in Baseball exhibit (which displays costumes from the movie alongside actual All-American League uniforms). I imitated the Phil Rizzuto "Holy Cow!" key chain George Costanza lost while jumping a pot hole. I did my best impression of Will Ferrel doing an impression of Harry Caray ("It's a simple question. If you were a hotdog, would you eat yourself? I would, and I'd be delicious!").

Thankfully, my fiance finds all of this as hysterical as I do. He laughed at my suggestion that there should be an exhibit dedicated to the many loves of Alex Rodriguez, and agrees that Rob Lowe's rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" from Parks & Recreation should be played on a loop somewhere in the building. While visiting the HOF was serious business, he somehow didn't take it too seriously. It's just a game.

Next time we're in an art museum, I'll try to act a bit more like him and not take it too seriously. I know he's not as into art as I am, and he's just trying to entertain himself. He'd much rather be watching sports, but he's with me instead. I should reward him by laughing at his jokes. (Just not too loudly.)



[My fiance is very proud of the number of baseball stadiums he has visited on this trip. Here's the list: Camden Yards, Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Citizens Bank Park, Nationals Stadium.]