Josh’s notes: As I’ve mentioned time and time again my family is pretty big into baseball. I’m the only son of a baseball family but I have two sisters who know more about the game then a majority of people who go to baseball games. It isn’t that others don’t know baseball it is just that my family has been that involved in the game of baseball. Today’s guest blogger is my sister, who knows the game of baseball far more then people realize.
By Leah:
As a female fan I find it offensive that people think I can’t truly be a fan of the game of baseball. I grew up in a family where baseball has been a big part of our lives. Many of my birthdays (July 2) have been spent driving 2 1/2 hours to Seattle to watch a Mariners game. With my brother Josh or as you know him 9inningknowitall and my husband Kelly a co-writer for 9inningknowitall obviously I must know something about baseball but I have found many people assume I watch it for all the wrong reasons. I started playing softball at age 8 and still love playing as I play in an adult league now. I find this game brings my family together. My two oldest girls play and find it just as enjoyable as I do.
If you think that I enjoy this game for the wrong reasons then OK maybe I do like it for reasons that some don’t understand. I love this game for the fun, the competitiveness and partly for the social aspect of the game. But when it comes to watching major league players I love it for the raw athletic skill that some of these guys have and for the statistical side of the game.
I am one of those people that loved Moneyball just for the fact that math was part of the movie. I connected to that aspect of the game. I am the kind of person that looks at a guy’s batting average and tries to predict if he can statistically get a hit this at bat. To me that’s part of the fun. It’s amazing the information these guys have to remember so that they don’t pitch the wrong pitch to the batter and give up a homerun. If anyone were to say that pro athletes weren’t smart I would beg to differ. These guys have to know every batter, every pitch, and every statistic for everything. They are creative in making plays and getting outs.
So if you still don’t think I’m a fan because maybe I don’t know who got drafted in the first round of the 2001 baseball draft then you’re right. I may not know all the details of the game but what I do know is I truly enjoy watching the game of baseball.