Why I Love Baseball

I grew up in a sports family. I didn’t play sports mainly because I stunk at it but all of my siblings did. I was more into drama, music, and debate. I know some of you are thinking debate, who knew. My dad gave me some very good advice my junior year of high school. He said, “Florence, you don’t play sports but boys like girls that at least know something about sports. I would suggest that you learn the rules so you can talk sports with guys.” I followed his advice and followed the top three sports in my home; golf, basketball, and football. Golf was and still is the most important sport and then the other two followed. I sat with my dad on Saturdays and Sundays and learned what the penalties the refs were calling, what the rules were, and how to keep score. I also learned to pick a favorite team and not be a fickle fan. I don’t know if my dad has a favorite NFL team because most of the football we watched was college. I know that his favorite team for college hoops or football was whomever BYU was playing or the UTES.

I have followed the NFL and NBA for years. I have been to a handful of Utah Jazz games and a few Sacramento Kings games. I have never been to a NFL game but I love the 49ers. This goes back to my love affair with Steve Young. If you lived in Havasu when he showed up the LDS church you might remember as I knocked younger children over to get his autograph. Not a proud moment in my life but I will guarantee not one of those kids knew any of his stats. Plus he has always been on my list of freebies. Meaning that if he shows up at my door, I have to leave no questions asked.

Over the years I started to watch baseball. I didn’t mind baseball but found it to be boring to watch. Mainly because some games can last for a LONG time, there is no time limit like the NBA or NFL. Yes, I know that with time outs, penalties, and OT there is no set time but usually games are only about 2 hours. Sometimes baseball games can last way longer than that. But when MLB founded the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998 I started to follow baseball. It was fun seeing them win the World Series in 2001. There were those that wanted the Yankees to win just because of what had happened earlier in the fall but the Dbacks came out on top.

Last summer one of my favorite Telesis families invited me to watch their boys play little league. I had supported these boys before if there was a car wash or other fundraisers but I had never been to a game. I found myself so grateful that this mom could ask me to come and that the boys were excited that I came. I started going to Sara Park and traveled a few times to Kingman. It was the best thing this mom could have done for me. Since then I have looked forward to springtime because that meant that baseball season would start again.

This last week the girls and I went to see 7 baseball games in 6 days. Now remember my kids don’t play sports. They are a lot like their mom in this area. So 7 games when you don’t have kids that play is incredible, in fact on Wednesday night I felt like a celebrity at the 2 games I attended. The boys from school, (because I haven’t been to any girls games yet) have been so excited to see me. Their parents think I am really going out of my way to see them play. To be honest I love watching baseball.

This year baseball has a whole new meaning for me. Why you might ask? Well because I get to go to my first MLB game. I don’t get to sit in the 6 dollar seats (which has now turned into rule 6 from my friend) I get to sit where I might be able to catch a foul ball if the batter hits the ball late. I might get to see a homerun hit because of the stadium I am going to, but more importantly like when you take your child to Disneyland for the first time you get to enjoy the park more because you are seeing it through their eyes. My friend gets to see me watch a game for the first time.

Now, my dad has laughed because growing up baseball would not have been a game he would have sat down and watched but he is starting to understand my love affair with the game. It is a thinking man’s game. It is a game that you have to have patience to watch but it is worth the wait. It is a game where the rules are easy to understand and there are not penalty flags being thrown. What is there to like about the game? Well you can spit sunflower seeds; I know you can do that at a football game, but not at a basketball game. My girls are getting very good at that and I would like to thank Coach Bagshaw for that. It is a game where if you have to go to the restroom there is still time for your team to come out of their funk. It is a game where most of us can play. You might not be really good but you can still toss the ball to your child. As Coach Bagshaw would say, “It’s like you are just playing catch kid, just throw to the glove.” I would like end by saying, “Play ball!”