Time to Think By Hank Silverberg Talkin’ Baseball Can you hear it? The crack of the bat? The smack of the ball in the glove? The chatter of the infielders? The boys of summer are back at it in Florida and Arizona getting ready for the start of a new baseball season , and that has made my heart flutter. Like millions of people across the country, America’s pastime brings out the good things in life: s itting in the bleacher seats with your d ad or your high school buddies , the smell of the fresh cut grass , the taste of a steamed hot dog and some C racker J acks. If you played the game on any level like I did, from 8 to 62 , the renewal each spring reminds you of that great catch you made to save the game at 15, that bonehead play you made to lose a game at 21, or the dive to catch a fly ball that resulted in a separated shoulder at 55 years old . What happens between the foul lines takes you away from the real world for a few hours, whether th