Baseball and Retirement

 
 

(In honor of our San Francisco Giants' second win of the Series tonight (update:  winning the World Series--congrats Giants!), I am republishing this post from June 10, 2010.  Thank goodness I learned to love baseball earlier this year at Yankee Stadium.  Just in the nick of time!)

What do baseball and retirement have in common?  Both can be boring if you don’t know how to enjoy them.

I used to hate baseball.  I thought it was boring.  The last straw was a San Francisco Giants game, probably 15 years ago, a night game at Candlestick Park.  I haven’t been that cold since, well, ever.  Candlestick was not a great place to watch baseball, and if you didn’t really love the game, a miserable one.  And I hated baseball.

But no more.  I went to a Yankees game on Monday and was converted.  I realized, basking in the sunshine and the energy of New York’s fans, baseball is a lot like retirement. 

Slow does not mean boring.  I like to watch hockey.  It’s an exciting game with non-stop action, and ironically, quite graceful.  I always thought baseball was boring because there wasn’t as much action. 

Just like retirement, baseball is not about non-stop action, it’s about anticipation.

Bottom of the 7^th, Yankees leading 2-1, bases loaded.  Alex Rodriguez steps up to bat.  The fans start cheering him on.  The first pitch, a ball.  We wait while the pitcher goes through his ritual.  Second pitch, a curve ball, A-Rod swings and misses.  We wait again.  The potential is there, we all are on the edge of our seats anticipating the possibility of a grand slam.  The pitcher goes through his ritual again, two more balls, two more rituals.  He throws the fifth pitch, crack, a home run!  We go wild.  We jump up and down.  We cheer and scream.  It wasn’t only exciting during the action, the lead up was just as thrilling.

Just like retirement, you might not be doing something exciting every minute of every day but the anticipation of that next thing is part of the fun, part of the joy.  The joy of each day unfolding, of finding out what’s next.

It’s really more about who you are hanging out with.   It was so nice to hang out with Doug all day, engrossed the game.  He explained all the stats to me, told me when to watch out for the runner stealing second, and filled me in on some of the fan traditions. 

Just like retirement, it’s not so much what you’re doing but who you’re doing it with.

It doesn’t take a lot of money to enjoy oneself.    Some people were sitting way below us on the first and second levels.  Some were eating catered lunches in luxury boxes.  Some had arrived in BMW’s.  We took the subway, sat in the cheap seats, and bought our own hotdogs.  There’s no way they were having more fun than we were.

Just like retirement, sure, maybe more money means things like more luxurious vacations.  But it doesn’t mean more fun. 

I’ve spent the last three weeks on a house swap in Manhattan, and this week we’re in beautiful home in Vermont, built in 1790.  This afternoon, I will sip Sauvignon Blanc by the pool while gazing at the verdant view, past the thick of maple and locust trees, over the Connecticut River to New Hampshire.

Retirement isn’t non-stop action, it is life at a slower pace, with time to anticipate, to appreciate.  Like baseball, it’s a time to just bask in the sunshine and enjoy the energy of those around you.  It doesn’t matter how expensive your seats were.

 

This is a post from Retirement:  A Full-Time Job

 

Comments

[Bob]

My wife and I spent a pleasant few hours at an Arizona Fall League baseball game yesterday at Scottsdale Stadium, spring training home for your SF Giants. It was sunny and warm and a beautiful way to spend quality time together.

Then this morning I found your post that perfectly captured the joy of a baseball game and its connection to life.

I know you didn't plan it that way, but you hit a home run with your thoughts.

[Bill Birnbaum]

Hi, Syd... You're so right about a retiree having the choice to enjoy life at a slower pace. The trick, of course, is to recognize and take advantage of that option. Not all retirees do so... or choose to do so.

Hey, by the way, Wendy and I just returned from a trip to New England and New Jersey. We hit the autumn leaves at their peak in Maine and in rural New Jersey. We've got lots of photos to show for it.

While it isn't nearly as colorful here in Central Oregon, it feels good to be back home. As my dad was fond of saying, "It's good to go away... and it's good to come home." Bill

[Kay Lynn @ Bucksome Boomer]

I'm glad you reposted this because I missed it teh first time.

I love the analogy between baseball and retirement. I think I'm a natural for retirement because I've had a lifelong love of the game!

[Steiner Sports]

This is a great article. Like you, It took me awhile to learn to love the game of baseball. Yankee Stadium is the perfect place to go because of the atmosphere and intensity of the fans. In my opinion the fans there are the most intense than in any other stadium I have been to. You can sit in the cheapest seats in the stadium and still have a great time because it is who you are with that makes the game a great experience.

[Alden Place]

Excellent post. Who would have thought of baseball as a good metaphor for retirement?

Hope lots of retirees have read this article. The last part tells a lot about retirement. It's a never-ending process.

[senior living Pittsburgh]

Some of us think that retirement is so boring. But actually, retirement is the perfect time to do things like playing your favorite game and have bonding moments with your family and friends. So don't ever think that retirement is the end. Retirement is a chance to do all things that would make you happy.

[Richmond Hill]

Whoever says retirement is boring, never experienced real retirement -- that simple. I have met lots of senior citizens living in communities in Fort Worth, Texas where they enjoy and just relax for the rest of their life without worrying about finances -- this is either because they did good at work or they got good family support.

[online bookmaker]

I feel you my friend, I used to hate baseball as well, I thought it was boring, too monotonous and with few exciting actions till I found it a little interesting and I started to watch it with my grandfather before he died, now I can't stop watching it, I actually watch it to remember my dear grandpa