Baseball

"The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again." - James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams (1989)

Tonight I get to go to my first baseball game of the summer. It the Rockies at home against the Brewers. I have loved baseball sine I was a little girl. My first memory of a game was at Fenway Park with my dad. Baseball has changed a lot over the years. I think right now I may love the history of baseball rather than the game itself. Right now it's a mess with steriods, huge contracts, egos etc. The history of basball is filled with great stories - Ted Williams was the last hitter to have an average over .400 in a single season (it was .406 in 1941), Lou Gehrig's streak of consecutive games was the record for over 50 years until it was broken in 1995 by Cal Ripken Jr, Dimaggio is said to be the greatest player ever and had a hitting streak of 56 games. There is so much about baseball history that I love: 1921 Yankees, Red Soxs finally breaking the curse, Hank Aaron (I was so sad when his home run record was broken), Babe Ruth, Joe Jackson, Stan Musial etc etc. Not that those guys were perfect at all - some of them were jerks like some players now are jerks but it seemed that they were so passionate about the game.
“The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that's it, not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.” Ty Cobb
Baseball may seem boring to some people but it's history and memories are amazing. I love the feeling of walking into a ballpark, watching baseball movies (2 of the 4 movies I have cried in were baseball movies), and seeing men do something great on the ball field. Going to a baseball game is a sure sign of summer and filled with memories - I will always love it.