How is the Baseball Catch like Human Evolution?

Referring to the long sweep of human history, a professor of mine liked to say, "Early hominids were friendly, stupid, and good to eat. How in the world did they ever make it?"

The answer wasn't baseball, but close. The key to human survival was sharing—sharing food, sharing ideas, sharing companionship. Without sharing, we wouldn't have made it out of the Pleistocene.

I would just add that sharing is a key part of baseball, too.


The writer/director of Field of Dreams touched on this indirectly when he described a baseball catch as follows: 


"I give to you. I receive from you. It's a lovely experience with nonverbal communication, the sharing of something very sweet."—Phil Alden Robinson, 2009, Sports Illustrated.

"Dad, you wanna' have a catch?"

This is another good reason to have the film end with that powerful image of the father and son simply throwing the ball back and forth. The baseball catch puts us in touch with what makes us human.

Related Posts about Baseball:

All posts about baseball, including posts on sliding and rebellion, the foul ball,  feeling good in crowds, and basketball vs. baseball.

All posts about Field of Dreams (and baseball), including posts on ALS, moonlight, and Jackie Robinson.