When summer comes, you know that there’s something approaching that will just make your days happier: that’s right, baseball! Baseball season gives you the chance to head out and enjoy some family time together while you are cheering for your favorite team. I lived in the south of the country, but my favorite team growing up was the Chicago Cubs.
I know what you’re thinking, “who cheers for the Chicago Cubs in the south?” Well, probably just me. None of my friends did. They were more Yankees, Braves or Diamondbacks when the team popped up. I remember waiting for Sandberg to get to the batting plate and think, “OK, this is going to be a home run.” I really enjoyed watching those games.
Baseball was the only thing I would anxiously wait for. I would play a lot of baseball games when I was a kid. The thing is, it wouldn’t be all that great when I was growing up. You see, I was a scrawny kid back then. Almost the shortest on my block and very skinny. I would be the type of kid that would be chosen at the very end by a team, or was the only one left and got to ‘walk’ to one of the teams as a “bonus.”
I didn’t have a good pitching arm and would routinely throw the ball to one side when trying to throw it straight to home from further than second base. There was one thing that made me a wanted asset back then: I could bat, and I could do it very well. I was the type of kid that everyone expected to strike out and ended up getting a home run.
Playing in my neighborhood led me to play in my school’s team where I held the batting record in my time there. It felt kind of nice. I felt like a celebrity. It was nice to see the face of some of the people who had seen me play when I was about to take the bat. It was an enjoyable time in my life that also helped me make friends. I loved to go to games and wait to see if I caught a foul ball.
Catching a foul ball or a home run is like taking a little souvenir home. In all the games I attended, I never caught one… Well, I almost did once, but another kid got it first. I have seen videos though of people catching one and then get robbed by another fan. The nerve that some people have, right? Like in the next video. A teen catches a ball and a grown woman snatches it from his hand. Fortunately, he gets the last laugh in the most unexpected of ways!
https://youtu.be/mtZIe6T3v1o
