How did you become interested in baseball?

DavidMn · #1 08-19-2006, 03:40 PM

Since there are several fans here I though I'd ask this question. For me, everyone asks how I can be such a big fan of 2 teams, the Twins and the Red Sox. Well, my dad took me to my first baseball game in 1978 and the Twins were playing the Red Sox. That day Carl Yastrzemski hit 2 home runs and forever became my favorite player ever. Of course being from Minnesota I adore the Twins also. Hard to believe I've followed this great game for almost 30 years!

irishgrl · #2 08-19-2006, 03:49 PM

I cant believe I viewed this thread! (twice! had to post this)

David, ya know I love ya but TWO threads about Baseball love? come on man, stop hogging all the bandwidth!

DavidMn · #3 08-19-2006, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgrl

I cant believe I viewed this thread! (twice! had to post this)

David, ya know I love ya but TWO threads about Baseball love? come on man, stop hogging all the bandwidth!

I cant help it. My passion just overflows.

estranged4life · #4 08-19-2006, 04:46 PM

growing up we always watched Baseball. My late beloved Mom was a Reds/Braves fan, my oldest brother also loved the Reds whereas my older bro Geary was a Dodger diehard and I liked the A's/Dodgers/Pirates. Our passion led to family fueds during the playoffs in the 70's.

I am the only one who still religiously watches Baseball, I will til my dying day (Played Baseball from 1979-1986-Mainly OF and occassionally Catcher).

Kinda cool. But my Mother taught us how to play Baseball, She was not into the typical female thing of dressing up or being afraid to get dirty. My Uncles on my Dad's side of the family loved my Mom because she was a tomboy who would play tackle football with you while others girls were afraid to (My Mom was built like a LB, I seen her flatten both men & women with her fists...None of this catfight BS.)

ryan8472 · #5 08-19-2006, 08:55 PM

Two words: Derek Jeter.

irishgrl · #6 08-19-2006, 09:09 PM

DAMMIT~ yer all feeding his ego by posting here!

PsychCat · #7 08-20-2006, 01:44 PM

I grew up in Atlanta in the '70's when the Braves were not so great but we had Hank Aaron to cheer for. Just seems like we always went to their games... prob. because it USED TO BE an affordable family outing.
We were pretty much National League fans except for some reason my younger brother has always loved the Yankees. I always liked the Red Sox and the whole rivalry with the Yankees, the tradition, Fenway.... and especially now Jason Varitek (from Ga Tech!!).

Interesting question.... just seems like baseball is something that naturally finds it's way into our lives.
GO BOSOX!!

DestinyRules · #8 08-20-2006, 09:21 PM

I started getting into sports when I was 14. I don't know why it interested me so much then, but I know there was a common thread in my formative days of sports fanaticism.

When it came to football, my Grandpa would explain things when I had questions. I used to envy his ability to tell what a penalty was before the referee announced it. Now I do it.

With baseball, my great aunt used to play it and she was a big fan of the game, so I had people who could explain stuff to me. Of course, she also passed on her hatred of the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets to me while she was at it.

With basketball and hockey, no one in my family really followed either sport so they didn't catch on with me nearly as much as baseball or football did.

DavidMn · #9 08-21-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishgrl

DAMMIT~ yer all feeding his ego by posting here!

Like my waistlline, it just keeps growing!

macmar71 · #10 08-21-2006, 02:56 PM

I have friends in Mass who had a Red Sox game on so I have been a casual fan of the Red Sox since 2001

chiliD · #11 08-21-2006, 03:17 PM

I have no idea...I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. My parents say that I was reading (and comprehending) box scores in the sports section of the newspaper from the time I was 2-1/2 years old. (Past-life recollection?)

I don't remember anyone ever actually explaining them to me...although, my paternal grandfather was a big baseball fan. He later taught me fundamentals of hitting: "The bat is round, the ball is round, you have to hit it square". Geometry obviously wasn't his strong suit!

The Brooklyn Dodgers (yes, I'm THAT old) were the reigning world champs when I was born...they moved to LA two years later...I think the hoopla of major league baseball finally coming to the west coast was part of it. (Despite the fact that the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) was almost major league caliber at the time) AND, in those days, we lived in the (then) brand new city of Lakewood...where quite a few Dodger players bought houses (in the same neighborhood where we lived) those first few seasons in LA. (I went to elementary school with the sons of Roger Craig, Norm Larker & Stan Williams)...in fact, my mom, who was a 2nd grade teacher at a different school less than a mile away, had Ed Roebuck, Jr. as a student.

I had cousins who lived in Stoneham, Mass...when I went to visit during summer breaks, Fenway Park for a game or two was always on the agenda. I've seen as many games in Fenway as I have just down the freeway in San Diego. (My aforementioned grandparents lived in the San Diego area...so we went to a few Padres games...once even back when they were in the PCL before the major league franchise came into being.)

My dad's younger brother & his family lived in the Bay Area, so I badgered my dad & uncle until a trip to Candlestick Park in 1966 was in order. Giants/Braves...it was the Braves first season in Atlanta after their move from Milwaukee. The final score of the game was something like 15-13...there were homeruns all over the place, Aaron hit two, Eddie Mathews hit one, Jim Ray Hart hit two, Willie McCovey hit two, Willie Mays hit one...and there were a couple of others, but I don't recall who hit them. The ball was just JUMPIN' out of "The Stick".

On a cross-country road trip in 1968, Eastbound, I saw a game in the 2nd Busch Stadium (the one just torn down)...it was a rain shortened win for the Cards over the Phillies. Since our destination was Boston and visiting the aforementioned relatives there, games at Fenway were mandatory. On our way home, we took the southern route and heading that way, our first stop was New York City. I stood outside of Shea Stadium while waiting to get into the World's Fair...but the Mets were on a road trip at the time. As we left NY, we drove past Yankee Stadium. So, both of those stadiums are on my list of venues to see a game. We stopped to visit relatives in Houston and caught a game at the Astrodome. Final score: Cubs 1; Astros 0. The lone run was an Ernie Banks homerun in the top of the ninth.

Oddly, my mom's family hails from the Kansas City area...and they're big baseball fans, too, but in all the times I visited there, I never got to see either an A's game (before their move to Oakland) or a Royals game in Kansas City.

At Thanksgiving of 2000, flying into Omaha to eventually visit new in-laws for my wife's family reunion/Thanksgiving weekend, on approach, circling into the landing pattern, the plane banked around the stadium where the college world series is held. (My wife's cousins in Nebraska are almost as big of Dodger fans as I am)

Yeah, I'm a baseball nut...and speaking of that, "Baseball Nut" is also one of my favorite Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors.

goldie · #12 08-21-2006, 06:39 PM

It's all those fit guys in tight pants that do it for me ....

Actually, I started really liking baseball in 1986 ... with the '86 Mets and all that hullabaloo. And the reason I started liking them???? I had a HUGE HUGE HUGE crush on the pitcher Ron Darling. They just replayed Game 7 of the 86 World Series the other day where he was pitching and I had to watch it for a little while. All those memories came right back to me ..... Oh and then I started having a crush on the relief pitcher Roger MacDowell ... and so on and so forth. Did I mention I also have a thing for Lindsey Buckingham??

estranged4life · #13 08-21-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldie

Did I mention I also have a thing for Lindsey Buckingham??

The guy dressed as the NY Mets mascot "Mr. Met"??

I wished the Oklahoma RedHawks (Triple A affiliate of the Texas Rangers) would quit playing "Don't Stop" after the games are over...That is an annoyance to me

amber · #14 08-21-2006, 10:52 PM

I played softball, so I like it cause of that partly, I understand it. I have limited fandom, but I do enjoy watching bball more than any other sport besides gymnastics and skating.

Here is my young life. Picture a studio appt. No TV.
I start talking. My mom says "hush! Can't you see I'm trying to listen to the baseball/football/basketball game??!" (On the radio). Cut to my mom screaming really loud if the Giants/Warriors/Niners won. Cut to my mom hating Southern California teams, On Principle. Also Texas teams.

That was from age 3 (when I remember) to about age 9 ish, when we got a TV.
So now, here's the dialogue:
Me: "But I wanna watch Jake and the Fatman!!!"
Mom&Dad: "Too bad, we're watching the game. (Mom may also start singing 'Tragedy! When the feeling's gone and you can't go on it's tragedy!'
And her voice is eerily like the BeeGee who sings that) "

So, even though I'd rather play outside/sports myself, I really do enjoy watching baseball.

goldie · #15 08-22-2006, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amber

. (Mom may also start singing 'Tragedy! When the feeling's gone and you can't go on it's tragedy!'
And her voice is eerily like the BeeGee who sings that) "

I LOVE that song!!!! The Bee Gee who sings that is Barry Gibb. And now I've got the darn song stuck in my head. I know this has nothing to do with baseball. But along the lines of my crushes that seem to transcend all worlds (sports, music, etc.). I did have a crush on Barry Gibb, too ... back in the 70's. I must have been 8 years old or something.