playing ball

But it looks like Merz, who wants to be Germany's next chancellor as head of the Christian Democrats, is not playing ball.

Drafted in May 1952, he spent the next two seasons playing ball in khaki, then was discharged in March 1954, just in time to have the finest season of his career.

Boys in particular mentioned outdoor leisure spaces, such as playing ball in the backyard or walking the dog.

His friend, David Rodríguez, agreed, saying "El Gato" was a "kid who should have been playing ball in the park".

The emergence of other sports, the spiraling cost of playing baseball, the increase in single-parent homes where no one might be available to take a kid from school to baseball practice — all of that and more contributed to a concerning bottom line: fewer kids playing ball.