from the ORG--why do you love baseball?

[mlh1981]

REALLY like this thread, and thought we could do one of our own....

http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90403

For me personally, I have been someone who has moved around ALOT in my 29 years. One of the few constants has been Reds baseball, and going to games, those people are part of my community. You get young/old, rich/poor, etc, all invested in the same thing, and for that night, those differences don't matter.

Many of the best memories of my life have revolved around Reds game. I've traveled all over the country to see them, and it's been frustrating as hell to watch them at times, but the truly special moments will stay with me for a lifetime.

I was in attendance on opening day when Ramon Hernandez hit the walkoff home run. I will never forget the feeling of following the flight of that baseball thinking "could it be? COULD IT BE?" Then, the moment of elation once I realized the ball cleared the fence was truly special. I remember running all over the concourse high fiving everyone. I felt like a young kid again. It was incredible.

I wasn't born yet during the Big Red Machine, and I don't remember 1990, as I was only 8 years old. I have the feeling I missed out on something pretty great, and I'm waiting for a championship team of my own. The day in/day out aspect of the sport, the consistent "drumbeat" are all beautiful things. The Reds are usually in my thoughts 365 days a year. Outside of my friends/family, and maybe something else I'm forgetting, it's my favorite thing in the entire world. I live and die by the results of each game.

[wlf WV]

Baseball is more open to a fan.It is a chess game.It is a math lesson.It is a history lesson.It is a game in which all men are created equal.It is a game of people we know.It is so complex,yet so simple.See,catch,or hit the ball.

[bounty37h]

Baseball was my first love. My dad was a baseball junkie so I got introduced to it at an early age and stuck with it. Dad showed me his old baseball cards, would play catch with me, take me to games, coached me. We went to Florida for Reds and Tigers Spring Training many times. He drove me to Cooperstown for Benchs HOF Induction. Thats a bond that brings tears to me thinking about it. Last Friday I took him to a USA Baseball game-the first we have been to together in over 10 years-and it was like we had been gone from the park for a week. Baseball always brings us back together.

[smoke6]

Pretty much sums it up for me.....
"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

[izzy's dad]

Pretty much sums it up for me.....
"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

Yes, this is it.

[webbbj]

i cant say i really love baseball. i love the reds but outside of them i rarely watch it.

i do like it tho and if cincy did not have a team i would probably check out various games across the region but i cannot give baseball the amount of patience and time as i do basketball and football as i love those sports.

[DocRed]

Memories of throwing a tennis ball on the side of the garage in the middle of summer.....pretending I was Davey Concepcion fielding a grounder....all while listening to Marty and Joe call the game on a radio attached to 2 extension cords running into the garage....mom cooking dinner inside calling me in to eat dinner......"I'll be right there MOM!"...........

[NCCardfan]

I was fortunate enough to grow up in central IL and listened to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon call the Cardinals games. The birds were perennial 2nd & 3rd place teams in the 70's and both easy and hard to watch. That of course is the magic of the game....

The 'Big Red Machine' and the KC Royals with Hal McRae and George Brett were 2 other teams that I had utmost respect for, hard nosed teams that played hard EVERY pitch of every game.

[chettt]

I was born at the right time. As a kid, my favorite player was Nellie Fox. I never saw him play. The local radio station carried the White Sox games. I loved his bubble gum card. Then, as a twelve year old, my Aunt & Uncle took me to my first game - Giants & Reds. 1963 - Pete Rose's rookie season. Seeing Pete play in person changed the way I played & later coached this great game. The hustle on EVERY play is what is missing in today's game. There was another pretty good rookie playing leftfield for the Giants in that1963 game - Willie McCovery.

[will5979]

The thrill of seeing the Reds win a game live.

Seeing an electric atmosphere when a Red hits a homerun.

Fireworks after a homerun.

The feeling you get when you know you have connected for a homerun.

The fact that the game has no time limit.

The sound of the bat making solid contact with the ball.

The pop of the mit.

The hats and jerseys.

The fact that the game is played throughout the best times of the year...Spring, Summer, Fall.

The connection with my father, grandfathers, and uncles.

Pete Rose, Barry Larkin, Joey Votto.

[bleedsred]

Being covered with sand and getting a pack of baseball cards at the concession stand after every little league game in the 80's.

Feeling like a world champion when you win your league on the last day of the season as a 13 year old...I hit a homerun (one of my very few) that day nearly 23 years ago. I will never forget it...still have the ball.