Baseball is my favorite sport

Adrian Gonzalez and me at a fan autograph session in Mesa, AZ; 1/15/2011

I am a baseball fan.  Very happy to admit this, and also tell you I can not wait for the season to start again.  I am an oddity in the baseball world due to my favorite teams both belong to the American League, and have gone head to head in play-off games to where I sound schizophrenic in shouting for both teams.  My teams, in order, are the Angels and the Red Sox

Truth be told, I am apt to be a better Sox fan due to belonging to the Red Sox Nation, having previously dated a Sox fan for nearly 5 years, and knowing more about the players due to this.  But it is the Angels I am able to watch during Spring Training that makes me happy.  It is conflicting and contradictory; I am fully aware of this. 

When talking about who you follow, it always amazes me the different types of fans there are.  You have your die-hard fans that live, breath, and pray to the sport of their liking.  You have the follower who knows what they do and do not like, but also knows if there team doesn't win it is not the end of the world.  The fair-weather fan who likes a team when they are winning and hates them when they lose.  You also have the unaware fan - those who have absolutely no clue what is going on or who is playing, but still manage to have a good time.  And for all the sports there are in the world, I am sure there are more types of fans, but these are the options that stick out the most to me. I have been in all categories at one time or another, I am sure.  But I have a terrible side to me that if I am disappointed beyond all hope, I will drop a team or sport like a bad habit, never to really follow them again.

Case in point - basketball.  Growing up I was a huge basketball fan.  I loved watching the game, knew all the players, knew stats, knew the rules for the game, and was absolutely crazy about Dan Majerle.  Dan, the 3 point shooting guard who was with the Phoenix Suns during a very important time for Phoenix sports. But then, a little thing called a strike in the 90's.  This was, of course, after ridiculous contracts had been signed, and I was so furious I vowed to stop watching the sport...and by stop watching I am talking about forgetting everything I knew, forgetting what I enjoyed about the game, and forgetting the game really existed.  I can count on my one hand the number of games I have been to for an NBA game since that time.  Of the games I have watched, I did enjoy them, but that love for the game is not like riding a bike after years of not riding - it has not come back to me.  The one exception to this rule is the WNBA.  I enjoy watching those games due to the drive these players have, the way they play, and truly the difference in how they play vs. the men.

So how did I become a baseball fan?  And why am I a fan after all the strikes that sport has also endured?  Doesn't that sound rather harsh?  To me, though, I knew once I said I was no longer a fan, there was no looking back.  And, like I said, I will attend games, but just not for the same reason as those I am going to a game with.  I became a fan of baseball when I learned I was pregnant with a boy.  Since I was no longer going to watch basketball I thought it wise to find another sport to follow for the sake of being a mom to a boy.  My ex-husbands family was die hard fans of baseball...Grandma Dandie had satellite television before it was common place to have satellite television...all to follow baseball and her favorite team, the Angels.  Having been a long time fan, she even attended the church where the pastor was also the team's chaplain.  She would get excited when her two loves, baseball and church merged as one...she knew all about the players with stats, whether they liked regular flavored chewing gum or mint flavored variety.  She knew their height, weight, eye color, where they were from and whether they talked to their mothers on a regular basis.  My ex-father-in-law Dale had been drafted to the minor league for the Angels, and a cousin was married on the home plate at the Angels stadium...and this is where my love for baseball began, and where my following the Angels began.  Grandma always hoped for a World Series title for the team, and was one year shy of seeing it happen when she passed away in 2001.

For most, baseball is a game they may be able to see live, but would not ever want to watch on television.  I remember growing up, with brothers who could not wait for playoffs and the World Series and me hoping to escape this hell within the confines of my bedroom walls.  I had no desire to watch the game.  But, now that is different.  I can watch the game live or on television, and get the same emotions in either location.  I can watch old television programs on the MLB network and while I do not know the stats of my teams, I am happy to enjoy a good game anywhere.  Come Spring Training you can find me at the field, watching a game.

Fenway are doing the exact same job that players were doing nearly 100 years ago.  I can't compare how it feels to sit in the stands, close to the grass, sun on my skin, as I watch the "boys of summer" hit, run, throw, pitch, and play as they do.

The reason I love baseball is the calmness of the game.  While most find this boring, I find it soothing.  I like the fact that they are not tackling each other, as is the case in football, or crying foul if someone else touches them as in the case of basketball.  I like the fact that it is a long season, where the players are forced to perform much longer than other sports.  I like the heritage of the sport, and the history of those who have played.  In the end, my finding baseball is what has made me happier than ever watching basketball because it is more accessible to me.  In the end, I am a baseball fan, who follows a few teams, and is proud to be a part of what makes the sport so great - the people who love the game.