COLUMN: For the love of the game

There is a sweeping curveball of a grin on J.J. Cooper’s face these days.

Baseball is back.

Well, at least we hope baseball is back. Plenty can change in the on-deck circle over the next few days. Corona is no longer just a beer you get out of the fridge in the third inning of a Cubs-Cardinals game.

J.J. admits his fingers are crossed. If he crossed them any tighter, he might have to be placed on the disabled list before the season opener.

The return of baseball will fill a lot of holes in a lot of hearts. A diluted season is better than a deleted one.

“It always has been a part of my summer and a lot of people’s summers,’’ he said.

Some guys have jobs. Some guys have careers.

J.J has a vocation.

Baseball is his passion. He lives it. He breathes it. ERA is in his DNA. His favorite book is The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Enough said.

J.J. is executive editor of Baseball America, a national sports publication with the motto: “Baseball news you can’t find anywhere else.” The magazine’s headquarters are in Durham, North Carolina – famously known as the home of Duke University but also the backdrop for “Bull Durham,’’ one of the best baseball movies of all time.

We claim J.J. as one of our own, though, a homegrown talent. He grew up in Perry and graduated from Westfield Academy 30 spring trainings ago. His parents, Jackie and Terry, and brother, Sean, still live in Perry.

He began his sports writing career before he could drive a car, covering high school sports for the Houston Home Journal. He had two stints at The Telegraph, covering the Macon Braves and as assistant sports editor. He has been at Baseball America since 2002.

J.J. calls those five seasons (1995-99) as the Macon Braves beat writer his “formative’’ years. His first year, the star player was a 17-year-old kid from Curacao, an island in the Caribbean, His name was Andruw Jones, and he went on to be named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year and wore a major league uniform for 17 seasons. In 1997-98, J.J. spent a lot of time getting to know Brian Snitker, who won back-to-back division titles for Macon and is now manager of the Atlanta Braves.

“Those years covering the Macon Braves put me on the path to where I am now,’’ J.J. said. “It was perfect preparation. I saw guys who were really good players, and it made me realize how tough it is to make it to the major leagues. I don’t know if I would fully appreciate player development the way I do now had I not had that experience.’’

It also was like working in a sanctuary every night at historic Luther Williams Field, the second-oldest minor league ballpark in the country. Around baseball, there is a deep reverence for the stadium, which was built in 1929.

If he ever gets homesick for the place, he can always watch scenes from a couple of recent baseball movies – “Trouble with the Curve’’ starring Clint Eastwood and “42” with Harrison Ford, parts of which were filmed there. And when he streams the popular TV comedy “Brockmire,’’ he can see the Luther Williams press box where he spent so many nights cutting his teeth on Class A baseball.

(J.J. now can be seen himself in a documentary about minor league baseball called “50 Summers” on Amazon Prime.)

He celebrated his 15th wedding anniversary on July 9 with his wife, Angela, and daughters Natalie, 12, and Virginia, 10. The following day was his 48th birthday.

Had this been a normal year, he would not have been at home for either celebration. He would have made the trip to Los Angeles for the 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.

A summer without box scores has been filled with deprivation, even depression. It was like every game on the schedule was rained out. Many of us longed for the familiar rhythm of a baseball season.

A shortened, tweaked 60-game schedule begins Thursday, underscored by rule changes and travel restrictions. Games will be played in near-empty stadiums. No fans. No peanut vendors. No seventh inning stretch or dashing after foul balls.

There will be no shortage of asterisks in the record books.

Still, we will take something over nothing.

“We are living in historic times,’’ J.J. said. “If you ask me what happened in 1983, I would struggle to think about something. My kids are about the same age now as I was in 1983, and down the road they never are going to have a problem remembering what happened in 2020.’’

A few days ago, he watched the Boston Red Sox playing an intra-squad game on TV.

“Personally, it made me feel a little more normal, and that was really nice,’’ J.J. said “Sports are a diversion, and there is something very useful about having diversions.’’

Millions of fans can’t wait to be diverted.

Play ball.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.