One of my favorite signs that spring is approaching is the beginning of the major league baseball season. Really Stu, a post about baseball on a outdoors blog? Hell yes this is a post about baseball. The enjoyment of the outdoors doesn't have to be on the trail, it can found at your nearest ball park.
As you keep reading my blog you will sooner or later find out that I am a huge Met fan. I grew up in Queens rooting for my favorite team and I have never stopped. Along with the Mets, I am just a really big fan of baseball.
Baseball is where I got my first taste of the power of the outdoors. As a child I was happiest being outside playing in my little league games, having a catch with my dad at the local park, or attending a Met game with friends and family. Baseball brought me out of the house and away from the TV. Till this day getting a group of guys and playing a game of softball at the park is one of my favorite things to do.
Money and commercialism have tainted the purity of the game but my love will always be unwavering. I will always be that child that dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Do yourself a favor and celebrate the beginning of spring by attending a game at your local ballpark or, if you have enough friends, start a game of your own.
For some baseball inspiration, I highly recommend reading W.P. Kinsella's book The Iowa Baseball Confederacy. Here is one of my favorite passages from the book:
"There's no limit to how far a man might possibly hit a ball, and there's no limit to how far a fleet outfielder might run to retrieve it. The foul lines run on forever, forever diverging. There's no place in America that's not part of a major league ball field. The meanest ghetto, the highest point of land, the Great Lakes, the Colorado River. Hell, there's no place in the world that's not part of a baseball field."
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