Baby boomers and baseball go together. Just ask the Tampa resident Terri, who loves to go to Tampa Bay Rays baseball games even though she is a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan.
She will tell you that Evan Longoria is one great third baseman, but he is no Mike Schmidt.
Longoria may someday make the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Schmidt is already there.
They say that famed broadcaster Bob Costas carries around a Mickey Mantle card out of respect to his favorite player of all time.
This is representative of many baby boomers who have Mantle tugging at their heart strings.
It has been reported that Vin Scully, the iconic Dodger broadcaster, will retire this year.
Baby boomers will remember him for having helped us to understand the value of the great Dodger pitcher, Sandy Koufax.
Talk to many baby boomer baseball fans and they will tell you that Koufax was the best pitcher ever to go to the mound.
Baby boomers are sentimental at this stage of life.
They value memories, they recall great movies once seen and musicians that once brought light to the stage. They also will forever remember the great sports moments, which created indelible marks in their minds.
But more so than any other generation, baby boomers recall what the Paul Anka song refers to as “the times of your life." So baby boomers can tell you about television shows of their youth because they grew up on TV.
Baby boomers can share with you what the 1964 Chevrolet looked like, because they grew up in the era when "so went General Motors, so went the USA."
Thus baseball and baby boomers are similarly linked, for most boomers will recall that moment when they first saw the green pastures of the major league ball park.
Baby boomers can share the moments of World Series games past, just as they can share special family moments of the years gone by — because they were critical elements of their whole life experience.
Today, baby boomers still love the game.
The great filmmaker Ken Burns must recognize this, for he has brought baseball to PBS for the baby boomer viewer. Baseball can even cross the political divide: George W. Bush can talk baseball and so can Barack Obama.
Bush once owned the Texas Rangers, while Obama can give you chapter and verse on his beloved Chicago White Sox.
Both of these baby boomer presidents will tell you what many baby boomers know: sit in the stands at your favorite stadium, cheer for your favorite team, enjoy the national pastime, and never forget what it was like the first time you heard the phrase, "Play ball!"
Rick Bava founded and was CEO of the Bava Group, which became the premier communications consulting firm serving the Fortune 500 community. Bava became known for his popular blog columns “Rick Bava on the Baby Boomer Generation.” He is the author of "In Search of the Baby Boomer Generation." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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