Now that football season is over, major sports fans are impatiently awaiting the beginning of baseball season. Though hockey and basketball are both heating up, I personally think that there is nothing quite like baseball season.

Now that players have begun reporting to their respective Spring Training sites, baseball fans, including myself are becoming more and more excited for games to start. Both Florida and Arizona-based teams have migrated south to begin their Spring Training games to get ready for the start of the regular season.

Though people have a tendency to become disinterested and even bored with the sport, baseball has still been known as America’s favorite pastime. Even if baseball itself bores you, it is still a sport that provides a way for people to spend their summer days and nights. Additionally, if you find that your city has a team that is mediocre, or even awful, every season starts with promise and hope. With a fresh start, anything is possible.

Baseball has been played during the late spring and summer months when other sports have their off-seasons. The traditional aspects of the game including the hidden, unwritten rules, different curses, rivalries and player statistics serve to give us the baseball experience that we experience today.

Many children grow up playing baseball and dream of one day playing in the majors. However, many younger people are losing interest in the game. Baseball organizations have become increasingly aware that with every generation, children’s attention spans are decreasing.

As a result, youngsters often have difficulty staying focused during the long, slow-moving innings and is always looking for ways to shorten and improve the game. Major League Baseball has been doing all in their power to keep fans interested and to recruit new fans.

Baseball has captured the minds of young people for over one hundred years. It would be a shame for this to stop now. The game teaches key life skills such as patience, mental fortitude, discipline and strategy, skills that can help young people succeed as they grow and develop.

For many children, including my younger self, going to a professional baseball game is something they remember forever. I still remember the very first baseball game I attended with my father at Shea Stadium and I have been to hundreds upon hundreds of games since. Personally, I am eagerly anticipating the start of the new season.

This could possibly be attributed to my lifelong obsession with the New York Mets and the usually false hope that the organization instills in me from throughout the entire offseason. With how the Mets have been doing in recent years, I have always found myself disappointed at the end of one season but impatiently awaiting the next. The slightest moves they have made in the offseason have always renewed my faith in them for the next year to come.

With this upcoming season rapidly approaching, baseball is expected to be very exciting. I encourage everybody I know to go out to make some memories this season. Attend a baseball game whenever you possibly can. Sit back, relax and just enjoy it.

Nothing is more satisfying than a beautifully warm summer night as the temperature drops and you munch on ballpark food in a comforting environment. Even if you are not a fan there is something for everyone to enjoy. Take my advice, I know you won’t regret it!