We need the Lowell Spinners more than ever.
Recovering from the COVID-19 health disaster as well as the cultural impact of the horrifying death of George Floyd is going to take a united effort. The healing will begin in the community and there are few better models for the positive confluence of people, government and business than LeLacheur Park in Lowell.
The Spinners are more than a baseball team. They are a shared experience for a diverse group of people who look to escape the challenges(and there are certainly challenges) of daily life for a few hours by watching a little baseball.
Baseball has historically been a healing recreation for spectators. In his 1942 “Green Light Letter” in which he advised the Commissioner of Baseball to commence with a season even though the country had been plunged into war, FDR wrote: ”I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”
Roosevelt felt that fans “ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.”
This rings true more than ever, especially for Lowell and North Central Massachusetts where economic and other challenges have been especially acute as the economy has evolved over decades and now, sadly, been dealt a brutal blow.
2020 has been a tragic year.
When the health pandemic is over and the racial inequality is finally attended to in a meaningful way, the people of Lowell, North Central Massachusetts and beyond will look to their beloved Spinners for solace, healing and well-deserved entertainment.
Many baseball fans especially those from disadvantaged communities simply cannot afford an expensive trek into Boston with all that it entails. LeLacheur Park is affordable and offers the experience to those who have not yet enjoyed the fruits of the American dream, or maybe saw it all fade away as the shutdowns decimated their livelihoods.
Mothers and fathers and daughters and sons need to need their Spinners again, soon. For too many, they’ll root for the home team without grandparents and other loved ones cruelly taken by COVID-19. Though the heartache is real, tears of sadness will turn to tears of joy as new, precious memories are made.
When LeLacheur Park reopens, in the stands a child will be watching his first ballgame. Plucked from the cloistered day-to-day of Zoom meetings and drive-by birthday parties. The brilliant green field and bold white chalk bases and foul lines and gorgeous infield and magnificent stands full of people will envelope the senses.
The noise of the excited crowds full of passionate fans from all corners, from diverse races and experiences is the anthem of the community. The people in that park share and cultivate a special bond that is needed now, more than ever.
Let us hope that the Red Sox realize what our team means to us. We know how wonderful the Fenway Park experience is, we’ve shown our loyalty by attending those games and following the Sox for over 100 years.
But we need our Lowell Spinners for the preservation of mind, body and soul.
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June 28, 2020 at 12:37PM
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Our beloved Spinners are a need, not a want - Lowell Sun
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