Batter up!

There are certain sounds and sights at home that bring a level of well being and comfort.   I love the steady drone of  the announcers, the crack of a bat, the "Strike".....called by the umpire and the fist pumping and yells from the living room. They are a sign of constancy in our ever changing lives. No matter how good, or how bad things are, there is always baseball.  It is always the same.  Somebody's gonna win, somebody's gonna lose and for two and a half hours there is something else to focus on and bring us together.

It wasn't always that way.  When I fist met my husband, he listened to Atlanta Braves games on the radio, or watched them on TV whenever he had the chance.  I admit I was a little jealous. It was actually a little boring to me.  I loved sports, but Baseball just seemed slow and dull. I just didn't get it.

Then, when we married, I didn't realize that the date we selected for our wedding was "smack-dab" in the middle of the World Series. That was a sacrifice that I didn't realize the significance of until many years later. With the change in scheduling, our anniversaries now fall during league playoffs... What a sweet husband to give up games for me.

When our oldest child came home, daddy picked him up and told him about the intricacies of the balk and fielder's choice and many other baseball scenerios.
He was hooked from a little guy. A couple of years later, his twin brothers had the same introduction to baseball.  I am really glad that they were all born during baseball season!

We have been baseball parents, coaches and scorekeepers.  Snack bringers, team party hosts, and regretfully, obnoxious fans in our younger years! But baseball is part of the fiber of out family.  Our kids have been Phillies, Yankees, Marlins, Diamond Backs, Reds, and Giants. Probably some more I forgot, too!

Even though our children are gone from home and living their own lives, dad still watches baseball , and somewhere along the line, it happened...I became a fan, too.  I watch, I cheer, and I find it as comforting and reassuring as he does.

The best thing about it now is that when ever our children are home, it is their universal language! They talk about trades, stats, percentages and fantasy leagues.  I watch their wives and fiancees look like I once did.  But the longer they are around our guys, the more they know it is a part of their lives.

So, whether you are a fan or not, the next time you see or hear a baseball game, just listen to the rhythm of the game, and know that there may be strikeouts, and lost games, but baseball is certainly a "home run" in my family!  "Batter up"!