Parma, Italia
25 settembre 2011
Baseball? In the land of Calcio? (that's Italian for soccer)
On our last afternoon in Parma, we made a lovely circuit of the town. It was Italian Patrimony day and all the town and ecclesial museums were open and free -- so we explored some things we might not have otherwise. We were in an Italian town doing the Sunday afternoon alongside the Italians (again, we saw no recognizable non-Italian tourists).
SO
We were enormously surprised to encounter, as we approached the Palazzo della Pace on our way back to the Duchal park, a full-on game of baseball -- or at least baseball of sorts.
Now, I am John Stott's daughter, so I couldn't stumble on a game of baseball on a grassy plaza in the middle of Italy and not pause to try to figure out what was going on.
It looked like a little league game, but the ages of the players seemed to range from about 5 to 12. There were clear teams, but we saw some players given 4-5 strikes. The bases were closer together than seemed right (though it's been a long time since I was at a little league game). The teams had girls and boys. Moms and Dads seemed involved and supportive and each bench got some fun sing-song chatter back and forth.
The best we can figure, it was an exhibition game to get more kids interested in the Parmesean Baseball School.
Whatever it was, it was fun - a little taste of home and nostalgia - and thoughts of my Dad in a totally unexpected place.
Pulling this into the blog for all those crazy baseball lovin' Stotts.
