His and Her Baseball Love

Continuing with our A-Z Blogging Challenge...

 

In our house, there is only one sport that we watch or talk about. The best game ever! The game above all games! The one and only - America's pastime! What's that sport? Baseball, of course! 

How did this sport get to be so big in our house? Here's the story of how each of us fell in love with the game. 

Amanda - Growing up in a sports family meant I watched A LOT of sports. My mom and dad watched football every Sunday. March Madness was just that - madness - in our house! My mom went crazy over Michigan State and Notre Dame football during the college season (still does!). My sister and I grew up playing recreational softball in our hometown. We would go to high school wrestling matches and baseball games to cheer on our neighbors. Sports were everywhere it seemed!

And I can clearly remember - it is one of my favorite memories - spending the night at my grandmother and grandfather's house watching the Atlanta Braves play baseball. The Braves were my Nana's favorite team, so they were also my favorite team. We would watch the games and she and I would talk about Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Chipper Jones, and all the Atlanta greats that played in the 90s. We would eat snacks and hang out. During commercials we would talk about what was going on with me at school or with her (many) church groups. Now that she is no longer with me, I find myself wanting to watch some Atlanta baseball so I can feel that connection with her again. The Braves are no longer my favorite team, but they will always hold a special place in my heart.

Nothing beats being at the ball park!

Sean - When I was growing up, we were not watching sports. In fact with the possible exception of the Olympic Games I don't think any of my family ever watched sports on TV. I did play T-ball as a child and I had a lot of fun playing, but never progressed to playing softball or baseball as I knew I would have more strikeouts than anyone in history. When I moved to America I realized that sports were an even bigger deal than they were in Australia. I wanted to find at least one sport that I would enjoy either watching on TV or in person. I tried watching American football, but it was way too boring and slow for me. (Check out my blog post about Rugby here). I have never enjoyed basketball so that left baseball or ice hockey. I went to a few ice hockey games and enjoyed them but it was nothing compared to how much I enjoyed going to a baseball game for the first time. I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere of the crowd, the aroma of all of the foods on the concourse that wafted down to the seats, or the fact that I understood the basic fundamentals of the game from my T-Ball days, but this was what I was looking for. Since then I have been to 6 MLB games and many more minor league games. It's a great time and is something that every visitor to America should do at least once to get a true sense of America's favourite pastime.
      

One of the first baseball games that I attended at Harbor Park in Norfolk, VA.

Which sport is your favorite? How did you come to love it more than the others?


Happy Baseball Season!