In case you have been without television, internet, or away from any baseball fans for the past couple of weeks, today is an amazing day. Today Spring Training has officially begun and pitchers, catchers and rehabilitating players can report to their team’s camps. Today may not be the first day of spring, but it is the first day of the baseball season and that is simply amazing for a baseball fan like me.
It is today that as a baseball fan I am reminded that these freezing temperatures and cloudy skies will at some point be replaced with t-shirt and short weather and tans. The grass will once again return to a beautiful green and people all across the United States will begin to pull out their gloves, bats and balls.
This year I have actually put some goals together for all that I want to accomplish during the baseball season.
1. Make it to at least 50 games this season. I don’t think I will have much trouble accomplishing this goal. Last year I easily went to 50 games and that included 20 with my daughter. I am hoping to make about 15 college games (2 down already), 30 minor league games, 5 Wood Bat League games and a couple Mariner games.
2. Make it down to the Arizona Fall League. I’ve been saving my money for 6 months now and I have enough saved up to go. I’ve had to sell some cards, save all my Christmas and birthday money, and even have a graduation party to pull the money together but I am there.
3. Enjoy at least 10 games with family. I know I will have my daughter with me for a lot more than 10 games, but I would like to go to some games with my wife, my parents and the rest of my family. I don’t think it will be that hard to convince most of my family to do this.
4. Stop and just enjoy the games. With the blog, taking photographs and getting autographs I can sometimes forget to slow down and just enjoy the game. I want to enjoy baseball and worry about doing the extra stuff another time.
Whether you watch baseball because you are a fanatic like me, as a reason to simply get outside or because you are just along with someone else who is a fan, take some time to enjoy it. One of the great things about baseball is that even if you aren’t a big fan you can still enjoy the weather and the social interaction that occurs at baseball games.