By Josh
There are a lot of reasons why I love baseball; the strategy, the relationships, the competition. However, there is one reason that I hold very dear to my heart, it is a warm weather, summer sport. I can’t stand the cold. I don’t mind snow if it is for a day or two but an entire season of cold is just outrageous.
In my hometown of Longview, WA we get snow usually once, maybe twice a winter and usually it doesn’t even stick. Not this year though. Four snow storms, yes they are northwest snow storms and not east coast blizzards, and too many days of iced over roads has me longing for spring and baseball.
You see there are two dates on the calendar that get me through the winter. First is the first day of Spring Training and the second is whenever my next trip to Disneyland is. (Yeah I’m a Disney fanatic just as much as I am a baseball one.)
A lot of people who I know that aren’t baseball fans always look at me weird when I start talking about the relaxing feel of the grass and dirt under my cleats, the comfort I get from slipping a baseball glove on my hand, or the sweet sound of music I hear as a ball hits a glove.
They don’t realize that I need baseball in my life. Football, basketball and other sports are great but I can live without watching other sports. Baseball however is a part of who I am.
I’m lucky to have a wife that accepts the baseball side of me. She doesn’t completely understand it, but that is okay as long as she doesn’t try to convince me to go without, which she has promised to never do. I’m lucky that my oldest daughter is starting to get the baseball/softball bug.
If you are still reading this post then odds are you feel the same way I do. Baseball fans have a unique connection with each other. Complete strangers can become best friends during a game of baseball. It is just how the game is.
Baseball doesn’t need me, but I need baseball.