It is the bottom of the ninth inning, there are two outs, and I was at the plate. It was the Old York Road Little League Finals, and I hadn't been hitting too well. There is a kid on third base who is praying that I don't get out. All I needed was a hit and the championship would be ours. I was a small lanky kid, and I didn't even know I needed contact lenses to see the ball properly. I remember facing a pitcher who was about twice my size. I watched the pitcher throw the first pitch as a ball. Then the next pitch I ripped right into the outfield for a single, and my team went crazy. I recall my teammates carrying all 65 pounds of me off of the field, celebrating the fact that we were the best 3rd grade team in Old York Road. Baseball is very easy to fall in love with.
Being on a team has benefited my life in many different ways. I have made a lot of friends, because they were on baseball team and don't go to my school or live in my neighborhood. I would not have met them if I did not play ball. I like being on a team because not all of the pressure is on me all of the time, which I experienced playing tennis. In baseball you have a chance to show how good you are as an individual (batting) and how well you work with the team (fielding). In football you are on a team but not everyone is working with each other all at once. For example, the defense and the offense are different people and don't need to work with each other, unlike baseball where the fielders are the same as the batters and have to work with each other the entire game. In the doug out I always have people to talk to about the game. When someone scores a run and walks over to the dugout, everyone hi-fives the person, and occasionally hugs the person (if they got the winning hit), and everyone is happy and ready to win. Being on a team is very fun, but it takes many practices to build a strong team.
Baseball is a slow sport that is easy to follow. Some people may be confused why I like such a slow pace gave. When the pace is slow you never feel rushed. A QB only has a certain amount of time to throw the ball before he gets tackled. A soccer player has very little time to react to a ball that was hit. Even though that baseball is slow moving, there is still a lot of excitement. When really good players are up everyone is waiting and excited to see what this player does. This creates a lot of tension throughout the entire stadium. The slow pace give you time to think of what you should do as a player. Every pitch you get a brake and time to recover, unlike soccer where you only get a brake if you are taken out of the game.
Many people have a bonded to the game of baseball. I have been attending baseball games for years now and I still love going to them. Watching baseball on TV is very relaxing even though I am not the biggest fan of the announcers. If you have never watched a baseball game on TV it is easy to pick up, and the rules aren't that complicated. My dad took me to baseball games since I was little because his dad took him to baseball games when he was little. My dad is big baseball fan also. He calls in WIP radio station and a lot of people tell him they heard him on WIP. He grew up in New York and is one of the only people I know who like both the Yankees and the Mets due to the fact that he lived near Yankee stadium and then moved to where everyone was a Mets fan. A lot of the time my dad and my brother get booed by people because they are Mets fans. My Uncle jokes around with my brother saying that he is a front runner because he is a Yankees fan and he went to the phillies parade. In my family, there is a lot of conversation about what team you should be a fan of. I was born in center city, Philadelphia which means that I have no other team to like besides the Phillies.
Baseball players and fans have many great stories about watching baseball games with family and friends. Baseball has brought joy to my life and I will continue following the sport. Baseball may only be just a game, but it can also be a lifestyle, and that is something that only a true baseball fan can understand.