Loving Baseball … And No, Not Just Because it’s Valentine’s Day.

This is a repost from 2012 ~ because it’s always relevant!

It’s Valentine’s Day and I found the perfect little ditty to share with you.  I found it in all places in a teen magazine called,  “Teen Ink”.  Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“For the Love of Baseball”  by Joyce, Monterey Park, CA. We don’t just love baseball, don’t just watch baseball, don’t just talk about baseball – we live baseball and our team’s every season, every game, every inning, and every pitch. We cheer on the rookies and bow down to the retiring heroes. We drive home anxiously from work or school to catch the first pitch and stay up late to savor the closing of a great game. We feel the agony of errors, wild pitches, and blown saves. We argue balls, strikes, and close plays. We understand and can distinguish between double plays such as the 6-4-3 and the 5-4-3. We appreciate a sacrifice bunt/hit to advance runners, a cycle, a perfect game, a no-hitter, and base-by-base scoring more than a home run. We question the manager’s decision to go to the bull pen, call up a pinch runner, and give an intentional walk. We marvel at the eye-popping, breathtaking defensive plays. Baseball may seem to be a slow, boring game, but it is really an artwork of strategies, gambles, and patience. In the end, nothing brings more happiness and excitement than to relax after a long day and watch your team play. They’re down 1-0, at the bottom of the ninth, two outs, the rookie from the farm team gets a hit. A bunt to third base, and the kid is faster than the ball. He’s safe. It isn’t much, but there’s hope, because there’s always hope. There’s always the next inning, the next game, the next season. Comebacks happen, because nothing is ever the same. And when you jump up in exhilaration rejoicing the walk-off home run and watching your team celebrate like kids around home plate, then you will truly understand what it means to love baseball.

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