from post-Seasonal letdown
because he immerses
himself in the sport year-
round. During the winter,
he watches the transac-
tions that lead into and out
of the December winter
meetings, and he follows
the winter leagues in Mex-
ico, Latin and South
America. He has arranged
summer vacations around
trips to minor league ball-
parks. He's the chairman
of the executive committee
of the Tiger Stadium Fan
Club and a member of the
Society For American
Baseball Research.
"As a kid, baseball was
my first adult activity," he
said. "I felt that because I
understood the game I
could talk 'to adults on
their own level about it.
The more I studied the
game, my family wondered
if I would grow out of it.
But I don't think it's some-
thing you grow out of; it's
something you grow up
with."
He said that the Tigers
have been a central part of
his life since he was 6 years
old. Baseball, he added, is a
sport intellectuals enjoy
because the action is
implied; the moves on the
field are predicted, analy-
zed and discussed.
"Baseball offers a myriad
of things to enmesh your-
self with," he said. "I
don't see that in any other
sport. It's been said that
football and baseball rep-
resent American life.
Baseball is the good part;
football is the mechanized,
inhuman part."
Psychologist Dr. Keith
Levick, who teaches a
course in adjusting to
change, said that baseball
fans might feel down after
the end of the season be-
cause they have to wait un-
til spring, and with that
wait comes sadness and
even a sense of loss.
Dr. Levick, who also
plays amateur baseball,
said it's not easy to put
baseball, or anything one
loves, on hold.
"There's also the issue of
the cold climate here," he
said. "When October
begins, you can feel a sense
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
27