OMAHA, Neb. — A byproduct of success at the College World Series is free time. Wednesday started as another “ordinary” between-games day in Omaha ? wake up, eat, practice, side trip to the zoo. But, things changed for the Tigers later this afternoon at Children’s Hospital.
At first glace, Children’s looks just like many hospitals across the country, quiet foliage and scenery, automatic sliding doors going in every which direction, staff in brightly colored uniforms, and always under construction.
Above the peaceful scenery, many young infants, toddlers and adolescents were fighting more than high fastballs, bad calls at first base and too much sun in the outfield. They were fighting cancer and other complex or unusual diseases that strike children in the region.
After a nice greeting by a young local fan who threw back a Rice home run (see more on LSU’s “Back Home in Omaha” blog), leaving the lobby area of the hospital stopped time in its tracks for the 25-man LSU baseball squad and coaching staff.
To many, baseball is a game about time and measurement. Three strikes, four balls, three bases, one home plate, three outs in a half inning, nine innings in a game, 90-feet between bases and 60-feet 6-inches from the mount to the plate.
But, here, illness knows no time, nor age. And happiness is measured one smile at a time, one day at a time.
Today, these realities were all too clear to this group of Tigers not much older than many of Children’s patients.
Watch this special edition of “The Buzz from Omaha,” as LSU’s Buzzy Haydel and Paul Bertuccini talk about the pleasure of giving some of Omaha’s youngest baseball fans a reason to smile, and taking time away from baseball to find a new definition of victory.