BASEBALL
Back when I was younger, my dad started taking me to baseball games. I remember going to the ball park, sitting in the stands and cheering for the team my dad was cheering for. At the time, I wasn't really up to speed on the details of baseball, all I knew was that if I didn't root for the Oakland A's or the San Francisco Giants, I was going to have a talking to. Fast forward a few years, I was finally starting to get a handle on the game, I started recognizing who the good players were and who the not so good players were. I learned that being from the West Coast, not to root for any East Coast teams (especially the Yankees), which at the time, I didn't understand but oh well.
I remembered the World Series of 1989 when the San Francisco earthquake hit and I remember how cool that both of my favorite teams were in the World Series at the time. Though, I remember those games, there are some players that I remember watching and remembering that they were some of the better ones. There were players like McGuire and Eckersley and Dave Henderson on the A's. There were players like Williams, Beck, and Kevin Williams on the Giants. Soon came the era of 1990's baseball and my love for the Giants became more and more evident.
So it was fitting that I was the scorekeeper for the baseball team at my high school. I got to enjoy the game of baseball, while learning the in's and out's of scorekeeping. Learning the positions and the art of keeping score, I was hooked on the game from then on.
Oh, backpedaling a bit, one business trip my dad went on, he brought me back a baseball movie, "A League of Their Own". I think I must have watched it a thougsand times (that's what my mom and dad said). What better that to watch a baseball movie that was all about girls playing the sport I was coming to love.
So anyway, the experience of scorekeeping is one I'll never forget. Baseball has since taken on a new meaning for me and I look at it in a whole different way now.
There was a stretch of time when I thought that the greatest pitcher/catcher battery was Rod Beck and Benito Santiago of the Giants. I still think those were an awesome duo and they were my favorites from the '90's. Now for the 2000-present era for me, I would have to choose for the Giants the pitcher/catcher battery of Bumgarner/Posey. They are the up and coming stars of today's baseball.
I have developed a newfound respect for those positions as well. I didn't realize how much of an asset the catcher was for a team. I woould compare him to the Quarterback for a football team. He's the one who tells the pitcher where to pitch and what type of pitch to throw. The pitcher in turn has to trust his catcher and has to trust the calls that he is making. If they don't work well together, the whole game may fall apart.
So yes all in all I would say that it's my favorite sport to watch, I have since developed a love for an East Coast team (don't worry, it's not the team as stated above); the Boston Red Sox, one of the oldest teams in the Modern BAseball era. They also have one of the classic baseball stadiums of the day, still with bench seats and still all wood.
That's all for now, I hope that this is a starting off point for more regular blog posts.
