Los Angeles Dodgers,

Cleat chasers, a word commonly used for females who are in pursuit of baseball players in a romantic way. How derogatory does that sound? I mean, to me it sounds like if a woman likes baseball they are only after one thing. That is quite awful if you think about it. It's also quite sexist. It's almost like just because the men play it, the women can't enjoy it without wanting to get something out of the players.

I personally want to put this idea to death. Because not every girl who likes baseball, watches baseball and follows baseball players have an ulterior motive. Most of us just want to watch baseball and enjoy a sport that has been around for nearly a century.

Baseball to me is about so much more than just watching guys run bases, and eating peanuts. It's about tradition and being around those you love. Cheering for the boys who have become one of your favorite topics of discussion. The boys who have made it so easy (and sometimes so hard) to love watching the sport.

I have been watching baseball for as long as I can remember. Watching sports has always been a part of my family and my life in general. However, I still remember the feeling of the first baseball game I went to. No, not the Rangers game my parents took me to when I was a baby. Or the Diamondbacks game I went to when I was around the age of eight.

This wasn't a major league game. No, it was a minor league game near my little town of Highland, California. I was around the age of ten when I first remember going to a 66ers game. I remember the sound of the crowd, the look of the field, the smell and taste of the food, and the foul ball my uncle caught for me. That was among one of the moments that I fell involve with this all-American sport.

However, it was my first Dodgers game that truly solidified my love for baseball. There I was sitting in the stands with my family and my great uncle, watching one of the best games I have ever seen. Little did I know that the second I got that Rafael Furcal poster, I would have completely fallen in love with Dodger baseball.

My whole life if I talked about a baseball team, it was always the Dodgers. Even before that day. I can't remember a time that I didn't love the Dodgers, and the fact that it made my dad and me closer. However, that day I was old enough to realize that the Dodgers were the team I would root for through the good and the bad. That was the day that I knew baseball would become one of my favorite sports, if not my actual favorite.

The Dodgers have been the one team that I have literally loved from the beginning. Their history, their players, and their managers are something I have consistently loved. When one of them gets taken out it doesn't feel the same to watch the game. However, if I had the opportunity I would not EVER miss a game, in person or on television.

Moving from California stopped me from seeing games in person, but it will never stop me from loving the team. While everybody around me is true to the Rangers, I will ALWAYS hold onto my team that is one thousand miles away.

I wish I could thank every Dodger player I have watched from the time I was a young girl to the woman I am now. Or to the team that currently makes up Dodgers Baseball.

Kershaw, Ethier, Gonzales, Ellis (even if he got traded over a week ago-update: I nearly cried on that one-), Seager, Utley, Pederson, and so many others.

Thank you for making it so easy to love baseball even during the hard times. This season has been amazing and grueling to watch at the same time. But, I'm glad that I can always hold true to my boys in blue.

Thank you,
From Malory, the girl you made love baseball