Are you ready for some baseball?

I enjoy Major League Baseball. I’ve followed the Texas Rangers since around the time the franchise began in the spring of 1972. I was five. So many memories surround outings to games—from my younger years sweating in the bleachers with our cooler of food and drinks brought from home (you could do that then!) to listening to games on the radio during elementary school to celebrating my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary in a suite with our whole family nearly three years ago. 

I like baseball—but my husband loves it! He loved playing it. He loves watching it—in person or on TV. He loves listening to a game on the radio. He enjoys scoring the game when he watches in person on a paper program, although many ballparks have quit doing these. He loves spring training and the postseason. The All-Star Game. And the World Series. He even loves minor-league baseball games! 

As a child, he was a Dodgers fan. No real reason why. He lived in central Pennsylvania and didn’t want to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates like his dad. But once he moved to Texas–almost 38 years ago now!–he became a Rangers fan. He’s softened toward the PIrates as well. And he will root for the Red Sox when they aren’t playing the Rangers because he loves his daughter. (More on that below!)

He also loves visiting other ballparks—especially the historic ones. I love when baseball and history collide! We’ve enjoyed games at the old Yankee Stadium in New York, Dodger Stadium in LA, and, of course, Fenway Park in Boston. In May. we plan to attend our first-ever game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Being at the old ballparks is kind of like hanging out in a historic home for a few hours!

All that to say, this past weekend was opening weekend for Major League Baseball. We don’t always attend on opening day or opening weekend, but we did this year, courtesy of our daughter! She bought family tickets for her dad for Christmas and then flew down for us all to go together! (All except the grandgirls, who would have been up too late, and their mom, my sweet daughter-in-law, who stayed home with them.) This was a special series, too, because our Rangers played the Boston Red Sox. Over her five years in Boston, our daughter has switched her loyalty to the Red Sox, even though the Rangers come in a close second. 

Now we’ll settle in for most of the rest of the season on TV. Which is fine by me. One of the reasons I enjoy baseball is that it is a slower game and allows for lots of reading time between major happenings. At least when it’s on TV. When I’m at a game in person I’m too afraid of foul balls to not pay attention throughout!

Are you a baseball fan? Who do you root for?