By RON MALY
As I keep saying, the longer I live, the less I understand.
On a warm, sunny afternoon this week, I was watching a high school baseball game with my son and daughter-in-law.
What I couldn't figure out was that the only noise in the ballpark was being generated by the fans--most of whom were parents, grandparents and other relatives of the players from each team.
The players and coaches were generally, and strangely, quiet.
That seemed unusual to me because when I played Kids' League and high school baseball in Cedar Rapids many years ago, there always was "chatter" on the field and in the dugout.
Coaches and players were always delivering words and shouts of support from the dugout and the coaching boxes to those on their team.
When a team was on defense, a coach would always remind his players to vocally cheer on the players.
"Let's hear it out there!" a coach would shout from the dugout when he didn't think there was enough chatter from the catcher and the infielders. "Let me hear some chatter! Make some noise!"
The pitcher was the only quiet guy, but that was understandable.
He expected his teammates to be cheering him on.
In the baseball of today, there is silence.
At least in the games I've witnessed in recent years.
"Don't they ever say anything out there?" I asked my son.
"No," he answered. "It's not cool."
Not cool?
I think being silent is the only thing that's not cool.
I hear nothing from the coaches in the dugout, nothing from the coaches at first base and third base, nothing from the catchers, infielders and outfielders.
I'm not even sure there's any chatter in professional baseball anymore.
The next time I talk to Joe Giardi and Mike Matheny, I'll ask 'em about that.
In the old days--by that, I mean the really old days--assorted loudmouths in major league baseball would get fights started by insulting players from the other team.
I don't see that happening at all now.
My answer to this business of "it's not cool" to chatter in baseball is that football and basketball players do plenty of talking and plenty of downright yelling and screaming at opposing players [and sometimes even their own teammates] during games, don't they?
Then why not in baseball, too?
Since when did baseball become the silent sport?
Like I said, the longer I live, the less I understand.
