Remembering Greg Halman

Remembering Greg Halman:

It is so easy to get wrapped up in baseball: the transactions, the trades, the signings, the injuries, the management drama, the character of the team, the character of each and every player.

It is so easy to lose one’s self in the sabermetrics, in the box scores, in each game, in each inning, in each at-bat, in each pitch.

This game we love so much is addicting, it brings us back for more because there is something profoundly beautiful in it. A chess match almost seven nights a week for 162 games (or more) a season. That is endurance, that is mental and physical anguish and fortitude.

No game requires so much of the entire person like baseball does. That is why we love this game, that is why we watch and writhe in anger every single time the Mariners lose. That is why we shout for joy, fist-bump and high-five every time the Mariners win.

These were all the reason Greg Halman loved baseball, too. He smiled big, he played big. He loved the game of baseball.

So, as Mariners baseball begins today against the San Diego Padres, just remember that this is a game, and life will go on whether or not the Mariners win or lose. Invest in baseball, invest in the Mariners, invest in the the love of America’s Favorite Pasttime.

But don’t lose sight of family, friends, life. So many people do. So many players do.

Greg Halman didn’t do that, but even still it was taken from him. Remember his spirit and his joy and his love of the game as the 2014 season begins.

We all bleed blue and scream until we are hoarse because we love our Mariners. Passion runs through us because we want to believe, because we want to experience joy and victory and something new and different every single night.

Just don’t forget that– like being down a run in the bottom of the ninth with two-outs, two-strikes and a man on first– life can change in an instant.

Rest in peace Greg Halman.