Baseball

I haven't had all that much to do lately, which has translated to more blog posts, even if nobody really even reads them.

Everybody has a few distractions they are able to turn to when nothing else seems to be happening. These can be also be good for turning holding your attention when life seems to really suck. For me, one of these is baseball.

I've loved baseball since I was too young to understand it. Up until the family moved to Colorado when I was 7, my Dad would take me to watch San Francisco Giants games when we lived in California until I was about 7 years old. These weren't always my favorite times, but I did like to be at the ball park, if only for the fun environment. Watching fireworks at the games was one of my favorite things to do on the 4th of July. My Grandpa Sager also loved it and would sometimes offer me baseball cards from his years of collecting them. After spending a lot of time watching baseball, I began to really enjoy it.

When we moved to Colorado, I played baseball for a season on the school team. However, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and would sometimes skip practice solely because I didn't really feel like getting up to go. After that short round, I didn't play for a while, but continued to follow the Giants and my old favorite player, Barry Bonds, which was something that kept me occupied sometimes during the Summer when I was really bored. I remember being really frustrated when they finally made it to the World Series and lost by blowing a 5-0 lead in Game 6 and then losing Game 7. I had also started to like the Rockies after moving to Colorado, though it was more indifferent since they seemed to always lose.

At about 12, I tried playing baseball again. I wished I had never quit and wanted to have a fun time playing the game. Being on a baseball team was great. It was fun goofing around with the boys, sitting in the dugout during games talking and spitting sunflower seeds while waiting for your turn to bat and just having a good time. Just being a baseball player was pretty cool, too. However, I still wasn't all that great at playing, and was really only good for stealing bases since I was one of the faster guys on the team. I never played on another baseball team.

Since playing baseball, I've still followed more than a lot of people probably do, though not as much for a few years. In 2007, I went to the National League Wild Card Tiebreaker game, in which the Rockies won after a dramatic comeback in extra innings and eventually went on to the World Series. They were swept in the World Series, but that run got me interested in baseball again, and I have followed the Colorado Rockies ever since.

Last Summer, I was working in Grand Junction while not attending school, so baseball really became something that kept me going while not all that motivated. Almost everyday, there is another game to look forward to, which meant there was something to get up for. It was also a time when I was a bit discouraged about things, and the games were really a distraction that could occupy my attention for a time.

Baseball is just one thing that I find enjoyable and, although I was never a great player, it is an interesting distraction for me.