Everyone has a bucket list of things we would like to do and places we would like to see before our inevitable expiration date. I have been fortunate that 13 years ago I started a company called Bob’s Baseball Tours. It has allowed the opportunity to see a baseball game at every Major League Baseball park in the United States.
Come Tour #2 next August, I will finish this journey by attending a Toronto Blue Jays game across the border in Canada. Seeing a game at every ball park isn’t the only item on my bucket list.
There are many other things on this list and one dream was to write a song and have it professionally recorded. Thanks to a former student, Jordan Harazin, this has become a reality.
I wrote a song mixing business and pleasure about my favorite boyhood sports hero, Dale Murphy. Jordan modified some of the original lyrics and professionally recorded the song. It has turned into something that I am especially proud of and another item to be crossed off my bucket list.
The song is meant to compliment our almost 10,000 word argument stating why Dale Murphy should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Please read that article here.
I still remember Jordan as the squirrely sophomore sitting in my tenth grade American History class or the senior in Government/Economics who couldn’t wait to leave Redwood Falls for Nashville. Through it all, this young man was one of the nicest, kindest, and funniest students who has ever walked through our classroom doors. I could not be more proud of him in trying to live the dream.
Some people live life with regret thinking they “should have” done this or “wished” they had done that, but Jordan is making an honest blue collar living by day and trying to make it musically by night. He isn’t living life with potential regret and his bucket list isn’t going to be left as full as it otherwise may have been.
If you take Tour #1 with us next summer, there is a chance you’ll have the opportunity to see Jordan sing the Dale Murphy song live while we are in Nashville, just as he performed for our group two years ago (his Johnny Cash Tribute was an especially big hit that night).
Thanks to Jordan, I am trying to create awareness for the “Dale Murphy for Hall of Fame” campaign that we’re starting through music. Maybe it will be successful and show people, such as current students in class, that individuals like us can make a difference. Maybe it won’t work, too.
If it works, it’s going to be a thrill. If it doesn’t work, we can look ourselves in the mirror and say we tried.
Live life with the least amount of regret, right?
One of the most pleasurable aspects of organizing these baseball tours is seeing people who otherwise may not have traveled to places such as Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, or Cooperstown. It’s a thrill to see others experience these baseball shrines for the first time and the smiles or looks of satisfaction on their faces. It’s priceless.
I am not sure what is more fun, crossing things off your own bucket list or helping others cross things off of theirs. Either way, it creates a worthwhile and memorable experience and that is what matters most.
