First Day of Summer

The summer solstice (when described from a Northern Hemisphere perspective) describes the date and time when the Earth’s axis tilts the most towards the Sun and marks the farthest north that the Sun’s arc will make. In less technical terms this equinox marks the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere which is also the longest day of the year. That doesn’t mean there are more hours in the day, just more daylight hours. In another Major League Baseball scheduling quirk, the Arizona Diamondbacks have an off day today so as far as I am concerned it is definitely the longest day of the year since I don’t have a game to attend tonight. Trina continually reminds me that just because the Diamondbacks do not have to work does not mean that I get the day off too. That seems kind of messed up. I was pretty sure that I had explained this to her 10 years ago when the Diamondbacks first began play.


From April through September I am more or less on the same schedule as the team. When they are home at Chase Field so am I. When they are away from Chase Field so am I. When they have a day off, so do I. This explanation really had no bearing whatsoever as far as Trina was concerned. She took this opportunity to remind me that ignoring the honey-do list would result in me having one additional road trip; sleeping on the couch. I obviously needed a different angle if I was going to be successful dodging that list. Looking at the calendar and seeing what day it was gave me an idea. I explained that I could not possibly be held accountable for working on a holiday. Trina immediately challenged that today was not a holiday merely recognition of astronomical positioning. I countered that it was indeed a holiday and one that was long a family tradition. After all it was the “First Day of Summers”. The calendar only recognized the singular spelling of my last name because only one of the family members could celebrate this special day at a time. Being the patriarch of the family I felt it was my duty to act on behalf of our name and take this day off in celebration. I think I must have caught her off guard as she just stood there speechless. I walked away in triumph to the family room so that I could spend the evening with my Tivo watching Diamondbacks Insider and The Eric Byrnes Show on Fox Sports. It sure felt like a holiday to me.

Jeff Summers

Just a digital guy in an analog world pondering the metaphysics of baseball and whether the knuckleball defies Newton's first law of motion.

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Jeff Summers

Jeff Summers

Baseball Epistemologist

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