By: Natalie Urquiza Follow me on my Twitter account for more baseball content.
When I was presented the question of what baseball meant to me, I had to dig deep down and find out why it means so much me. I have grown up my whole life with loving the game, whether it be playing softball or watching baseball. From a young age, about five, my dad introduced me to the sport, taking me to my first Arizona Diamondbacks game. There, I fell in love with the sport and proclaimed Luis Gonzalez as my first favorite player. It was the first sport I went to and I instantly fell in love with the game.
Growing up, I found myself learning and understanding the game more and more every single day. I tried my best to know all the players on each team. I had a baseball magazine that I would read every day. There was one magazine that ranked different players from Andruw Jones to Derek Jeter. I loved that magazine, if I looked hard enough, I am sure it is at my parents’ house somewhere. I would write down batting averages of my favorite ball players. I would write stories about the team, as if I was a reporter, making my parents read them. Baseball was/is much more than a game to me.
So, when thinking what baseball means to me, the words “home” or “comfortable” kept coming up in my mind. I knew it felt like home but why? It is a place I feel comfortable no matter what stadium I was attending. I have attended home games for the D-backs and Padres a million times. Also, I visited Oracle Park (Giants) and Progressive Field (Guardians) once, yet the feeling remains the same no matter the stadium.
Baseball is all about making memories, it is a place to go and relax, forgetting everything bad that can happen in a day. Once I walk into a stadium or turn on the TV to watch the game, I instantly forget about my problems. It is a safe place where I know I am around others that love baseball or are there just for fun. Either way, it is always a great time.
I love how I can walk into a stadium and create new memories. A lot of my memories are from being at the ballpark or even watching the game at home. I will never forget when the D-backs won the 2001 World Series and everyone around me was so excited, jumping up and down, yelling. It was a scene which stays in my mind till this day. Or how can I forget when Archie Bradley hit a triple for the D-backs to take the lead in the 2017 NL Wild Card game against the Colorado Rockies. I remember hugging my dad and random people, jumping up and down with them. There are so many more memories I could name but I am sure my point is getting across.
Baseball means so much to me because I have created amazing number of memories and found so many great friends because of the sport. My dad introduced me to it and now I have my nephew loving baseball. I was able to turn my love of baseball into reality. When I was a Senior at Arizona State University, in the spring semester, you are paired with a team for Spring Training and write stories about them. I as fortunate to be paired with the Texas Rangers, everyone in the entire organization was super nice and helpful. I had to wake up super early, but I did not complain, I would tell myself the little girl who fell in love with baseball would be super jealous and proud of how far we have come.
I was told at a young age, liking baseball would be a phase, I would soon grow out of it. I will slowly stop watching the games, stop looking at batting averages; it would all go away. But here I am so many years later loving the game more than I ever thought I could. There will always be new rules or new players, stadiums, but baseball is a sport I will never stop loving. It will always be my home, my comfort zone.