Baseball

I like baseball. Whether it is watching a game from the stands, playing the game itself, hitting practice balls in an open field, or just playing catch ... I like baseball. I have strong nostalgia for the game because I come from a lineage of baseball lovers (my mom and grandpa). They taught me how to play baseball and supported my enjoyment playing it as I grew up. I can still remember the taste of nachos on a breezy summer night after a game, walking around with my cleats scraping the pavement. It is a very good feeling.

A baseball field in Rocklin, CA near our old house

I started playing baseball when I was little. Each time I get near a baseball diamond the same feeling of youthful excitement comes over me, like I want to run out on the field and play. I don't get the same feeling of excitement watching baseball on TV, but when I do watch it I want to run outside and play.

When Alisha and I moved from California to Kentucky, one of the benefits was that we bought a field that neighbored our house and the field is long enough to hit baseballs. When I have excess energy or a stressful day I'll go out into the field and hit a bucket of baseballs or softballs, then walk around the field gathering them up, then repeat it a few times. One day I hope to put in a backstop and bases to make it my own field of dreams.

The field near our house where I hit baseballs

During this year of COVID, I've been reflecting quite a bit as we all have. Part of this reflection has been remembering how baseball made me feel as a child, then trying to replicate that feeling. It is a true saying that you can never return to how things once were, they are always slightly different. Even so, there is a small part of me from the 1980's that comes to life when I put on a baseball glove or toss a ball up and down.

I think we all have an activity or hobby that through time has become a part of who we are. For others it might be painting, writing, football, basketball, card/board games, woodworking, or hunting and fishing. For me, it is baseball.

Holding a bat used by Mickey Mantle
at the Louisville Slugger Museum