Growing up, sports were a big part of my life. Unfortunately, being born in Northeast Ohio in the 1970’s meant that you were doomed to watch all your local sports franchise struggle. The Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers were always just good enough to make you care…but then when they had a chance to grab the brass ring they would always disappoint you.

Of all the sports, my favorite was baseball. There was something about the timelessness of the game, the strategies, and the depth of the competition. I subscribed to the view that baseball was “a team game played by individuals” with games within the games. How is the pitcher going to to approach this hitter? How is the defense going to set itself for this batter? What are the base-runners going to do?

For reasons not worth getting into here, I let go of professional baseball in the early 2000’s, but I still can look fondly back on my years as a fan.

One cherished memory is when the Indians won the AL Central in 1995; this was the first time they had been to the postseason since 1950. There was, however, a bittersweet twist to this success. Back in 1993 during spring training three Indians pitchers - Steve Olin, Tim Crews, and Bobby Ojeda - went boating on Little Lake Nellie on an off day. Tragically, the boat collided with a dock killing Olin and Crews and injuring the Ojeda. This was a young team and the players involved were fan favorites, so the fan base was understandably devastated.

I was driving from Ohio down to Virginia in 1995 during that game; although I lived in Virginia I was in Youngstown, Ohio for work. For some reason the baseball gods smiled on me and I was able to pick up Indians radio the entire way home.

Finally winning something as a fan brought the emotions up, but it was what happened during the celebration that opened the floodgates. Since 1993, the Garth Brooks song “The Dance” had become a sort of unofficial anthem of the team as it was a favorite of the players who had been lost. When, in the midst of a celebration, the slow strains of that song were played across the public address system, there were not many dry eyes in the dugout, the stands, or across those watching or listening to the game.

Songwriter Tony Arata’s lyrics here are sublime. Like all of us, I’ve had a lot of pain and hardship in my life, but that pain made me who I am. It took me far too long to realize this, but as I look back over my life I see that only by owning and embracing your pain can you fully appreciate your life.

The Dance

Lookin' back on the memory of
The dance we shared, beneath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now, I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss
The dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment, wasn't I the king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey, who's to say, you know I might have changed it all

And now, I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss
The dance

Yes, my life, it's better left to chance
I could have missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss
The dance