So if you’ve read any of my work here on The Laracuente Ledger, it is obvious that I love the game of baseball.
My love of the game of baseball goes beyond my allegiance to my favorite team the New York Yankees. My passion for the game spreads across 29 of the 30 Major League teams. I could never love the Boston Red Sox, except for my love of seeing them lose.
As a baseball fan, I watch a lot of games from all thirty Major League Baseball teams. I watch to see how teams are doing. I watch for individual players. I watch to see how certain trends are going in the game.
But my love for the game doesn’t stop at the Major League level; I watch Minor League games as well. Mostly, the New York Yankees Minor League affiliates to keep an eye on prospects and rehabbing players. I watch some college baseball and softball games as well.
What makes the game so special to me is a number of different factors, there’s the history of the game, the strategy behind the managerial moves or lack thereof. Baseball is special to me because of the athleticism of the players and some of the incredible things seen on a nightly basis watching so many games. There is the simple, seeming nature of what is genuinely the hardest thing to do in sports, which is to hit a round ball, with a round bat, squarely.
Part of the allure of the game is when the players at the MLB level make difficult plays look routine. It gives us fans the false sense of yea I could do that. But when we attempt it, we just look foolish.
My Connection to Baseball
I never played baseball in high school, and if time travel were possible, I would change that. However, it is not possible so therefore so sense in harping on it. I did, however, play for five years for my church, in a Men’s Slow Pitch Softball league. And despite having some talented players we couldn’t seem to get it together and win anything. Sadly, the league we played in no longer exist. And over the last two years my desire to play the game I love so much has grown exponentially.
That desire lead me to making an annual softball game with my family. And over the last several years it has been a fun once a summer experience. Though not enough baseball for me.
So I turn elsewhere, and that means playing MLB The Show for hours on end. I live out my vicarious hopes and dreams of playing shortstop for the New York Yankees every day on my PlayStation 4.
The game of baseball brings up memories for everyone. Memories of the history we have witnessed as fans. Memories of past loved ones who imparted the game with us. The game of baseball can stretch across many generations. And the game is filled with many talented players who are exciting to watch. While the game has started trending in a dangerous direction with the three true outcome players, the game still possesses a level of skills that will keep me and many others like me watching.
Being a New York Yankee fan has made my baseball watching experience pretty easy over the years. As in the time that I’ve been watching Yankee baseball they have won five World Series. Last season, the Yankees were supposed to be rebuilding and found themselves coming just one game short of the World Series. This season the Yankees currently have the best record in MLB and are coming off a stretch where they won 19 of 22.
So hopefully I have made my love of the game of baseball evident. The game is at a critical junction as far as the potential next generation of fans. But as a diehard baseball fan, I will do my part in trying to further the fandom of future generations of this beautiful game.
