I grew up on the ball field. Not only did I play baseball, I spent a lot of time at my brother’s games. We spent summers going on tournaments and driving 4 hours to where they were held. We would play games then go back to hotel and hang out by the pool. Going out of town and spending as much time on the road as we did as kids were our summer holidays and those were some of my fondest memories. I felt more respected on baseball field then I did from my own classmates.
There was one season where my team was un-defeated, only losing one game which I heard we should have won. It was a great feeling knowing that we couldn’t be beat. We enjoyed the game. We worked as a team to get to where we were. I also think it had to do with my coach. I speak very highly of him when I talk about the game. I think he wanted us to do good, play well and have a good time on the field. He knew what he was doing and it showed.
He had a red helmet that nobody wanted to wear. I was the only that dared to wear it. He let me keep it for the two seasons I had him as a coach and it became my lucky helmet.
One year, we went to a Vancouver Canadians game. Before the game, we went onto the field and play/warmed up with the team. It was like a training camp or some sort of event that the Canadians did or my coach worked his magic and was able to rearrange for us to do that. It was a cool experience.
When I played my last year of baseball, I switched over to softball. I went from an all boys team to an all girls team and I felt like the girls didn’t want me there. I grew with playing with the same team and I felt more respected playing with the boys then I did with the girls. They spend more time coming up with cheers then actually playing the game. The boys made me part of the team and not once did I feel like I didn’t belong. The girls however were in their little groups and used it as a way to talk about things that could have waited until after the game. Towards the end of the season, I hardly went to practice because I didn’t want to be there.
I remember not going to the last fews games. I don’t know how I got out of it, but I just lost interest in playing. The same weekend my team was playing the last game of the season, a friend of mine who is a couple years younger than me had invited me to her game that was being held at the same park. I remember seeing my team playing a couple fields over. I spend the whole game trying to not look over towards the field because I didn’t want my coach to see me. She actually walked past the field that my friend was at. It looked like she was on a mission and was trying tp look for someone. Of course, I didn’t make eye contact just in case she saw me and wanted to ream me out for not being at the game, but at the end of the day, it was my decision to not be there playing with my team. Her husband actually came over to where I was because he knew some of the parents that had kids on my friend's team. I kept to myself and didn't make contact.
Softball wasn’t what I thought it was and I wished I played one more year of baseball instead of making the switch.
The highlight of my one year in softball was my double play that I made. I had always played second base. In that particular game there was a runner on first and a runner on third. I was keeping my eye on the bases. When the player at bat made contact, it came flying over to me, I caught it, falling onto the ground as I did, that player became out. I got up, raced over to second base and tagged the player who stole second. She became out and the crowd went wild. They started chanting my name….ok, that part didn’t happened, but it would have been cool to be lifted onto someone shoulders and be paraded around the field, but I’ll take a cheering crowd. I was proud of myself. I still bring it up every once in the while. My dad’s response to that is. “Yeah, I know. I was there.”
One of my classmates who I hung out with at school played in the same league, in the same division. I didn’t even know she was in softball until we played against each other in a game. I saw her warming up with her team and instead of being tough and acting like we were going to kick their ass, I stood there and waved at her from across the field. It was hard not wanting to throw the game because I wanted her team to win, but I wanted to be a good sport and play like I didn’t know her. I can’t remember who won, but the next day at school, we ended up having a good laugh about it and said “good game last night.” She knew I played baseball, but I don’t think she knew I made the switch to softball until the game where we met on the field.
Growing up with baseball is the one of highlights of my childhood. I always enjoyed being on the field, either playing or watching my brother. I spent a lot of time just travelling for games during the summer and I felt like I had gained older brothers within my brother’s team. I had spend so much time over the years watching them play and I knew that they had my back. I felt respected within the baseball community.
I was out of town for a tournament the same weekend that JKF Jr died. I remember being in the hotel room when the news about his death was on TV. They had found his plane then as time went on, they declared that there was no survivors. Its a memory I'll never forget.
I do miss the game and being on the field. Its been a long time since I played a game so I know that my arm isn’t where it was when I played, but I think because of how long I played, its just instinct and after some practice my arm will go back to where it was. Playing second base, I knew that I had to have a good arm to make the ball reach home plate.
With my background in playing baseball, I’m pretty good at any sport. Once you play one, you can play all of them. Sometimes when I throw or have to hit something, my arm goes into baseball mode and I just hit something harder then I should because I’m used to hitting baseballs. Its just muscle memory. Sports aren’t for everyone, but its a part of my childhood and I’m glad I had the experience. I also have the skill of keeping score. Its just a random part of the game I picked up one day during one of my brother's games and I never forgot how to do it.
If you were to ask me about my favourite baseball team, I would have to say the New York Yankees. As much as I like the Dodgers, I’m a Yankees fan for life.