Absurdity, Allegory and China

The MLB (Major League Baseball) season is underway again, and for some of us, that means some nebulous sense of order has been returned to the universe. Last year there were two pre-season MLB games in Beijing at the field at Wukesong. Good fun, really. I missed the first game when the PSB (Public Security Bureau) was all a-jitter. The date was March 15, 2008, and being all a-jitter was in the air. Jeremiah at Jottings from the Granite Studio has a good review of the first game here. By the second game, the following day, a bright, though hazy Sunday, the jitters had calmed to a mere shiver, as the security people began to realize that baseball fans were not intent on taking over the government.

Several month ago I wrote a poem about Jet Li tossing out the first pitch with the line “man, he throws / just like my sister ….” What I didn’t realize is that I’d caught him on camera on the mound as he … well, threw just like my sister. So, in the spirit of a new baseball season and the restoration of stability, here is the photo. There is no disrespect intended towards Jet Li – I’m just using my poetic license – since I’m quite sure his sisters could whoop me good. I don’t want to even think about what he could do to me. I was very thrilled that he had the spirit and sportsmanship to get out there and get into the swing of things.

(click the pic for a larger version)

For the those who might be interested, my team, the Philadelphia Phillies, the reigning World Champs, lost their opener to Atalanta 4-1. Slugger Ryan Howard struck out looking with bases loaded in the ninth. According to my brother it took Phillies fans all of 17 minutes into the game before they started booing. Brotherly Love, indeed. And these guys don’t even have their championship rings yet. Batter up.