It’s a House of Delegates tradition for me to give the opening prayer for the floor session the day of the Orioles home opener:

            “Spring training and the post season are the best times of year.  It’s the purity of the game. It’s teaching,” said Buck Showalter this spring.

          “Don’t just practice. Practice right, and you’ll do things right in the game. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” Cal Ripken Sr. said that. 

           “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” That insight comes from the man whose goal was to have people say, “There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.”

            Baseball is about practice and dedication.  Individual success and failure.  Team victory and defeat. 

            A catcher blocking the plate while waiting for the ball and the runner to arrive at the same moment.  A batter getting the hit that drives in the winning run. 

            And waiting all winter for that special moment when the umpire shouts, “Play ball!”

April 2