Every family seemingly has a passion. Some families are into music. Others are crazy about politics. Maybe your family has a knack for camping and the outdoors.
My family? We love baseball.
Growing up in a baseball family helped make me the person I am today. It's more than just a game to us, it's a lifestyle. The stats, the history, the teams, the players, we strive for the magical six months that are baseball season.
It starts each spring, and the buzz begins to build at a family dinner with my grandparents. My grandfather, an employee of the Cincinnati Reds since they played at Crosley Field, is ready to begin another season ushering at the ballpark. My grandmother can tell you more about baseball than most grandparents, male or female. Then there's my dad, he played in the minors and watched some of the best Dodgers teams as a kid. My mom knows more about baseball than most of my friends, and when she was born, my grandfather went to the Reds game. They were playing the Phillies, he had to go! My sister has been to more Major League ballparks than the majority of people her age, as well.
The family dinner is largely a discussion of the upcoming baseball season. Who are the contenders going to be? What can we expect from our hometown Reds? What ballparks will we visit this summer? Stories of the past are shared, as my grandfather recalls going to the 1954 World Series and seeing Willie Mays play. His father was at the 1920 World Series, which had the only unassisted play in World Series history.
Spring training flies by, and soon Opening Day is upon us. A celebrated holiday in Cincinnati, everyone has a plan. My mom attends the parade downtown, my grandmother watches the coverage from her living room and my grandfather works another Opening Day. My uncle from Colorado is texting me frantically trying to watch the game. Wherever a family member is, there is excitement for this long-awaited April afternoon.
April and May are the months that we get our preliminary expectations for the season. Through these two months our family can begin to figure out what teams are good, what players are having breakout seasons and our early World Series picks. We usually attend four to six games through these two months, as my mom is still in school teaching every day. The season is ramping up, and our baseball summer is about to begin.
For years we spent the summer traveling to play baseball all over the midwest, also throwing in vacations as well. Our vacations, however, are unlike most. A typical family likes going to Florida, Hilton Head or Hawaii. Us? We travel around the United States with one thing in mind: where can we go to see a baseball game this summer? At just the age of 18, my parents have helped me go to 15 Major League ballparks, nine minor league ballparks and six independent or college league parks. How many kids can say that?
Each night at dinner we are watching baseball. Is there an afternoon game on? We know the channels to check. What time do the Reds play, and where are they? Ask mom, she knows their schedule better than any of us. Late nights are spent watching MLB Network, catching games from around the league. Some days my dad will randomly approach me with the idea of going to Chicago to see the Cubs at Wrigley. Of course I want to go.
June and July are the prime months of our baseball season. We usually try to catch around ten Reds games over these two months, and throw in a trip as well to another ballpark somewhere. There is not a night that goes by without baseball, we live for these things. The All-Star Game is something important, the National League needs home-field advantage in the World Series. We are a National League family, the senior circuit. Around the end of July we prepare for trade season, and all of us have to deal with either losing a Reds player, or gaining a new one. It's never easy to say goodbye to a player.
The dog days of August are enjoyable, but a point where everyone goes their separate ways again. Mom begins teaching, I go back to school, but the passion does not stop. Due to the habits built up from living in this family, every night I find myself checking stats, watching highlights and reading stories about the fast-approaching playoffs.
As September fades and October begins, the excitement that is playoff baseball begins. There is nothing quite like playoff baseball. There is no clock in baseball, you have to finish the game and pitch to every batter, no team is ever out of a game. The Reds have only brought heartbreak in my lifetime, but my family has seen the past successes of the Big Red Machine and 1990 Reds.
As a member of a baseball family, I have been blessed. We travel well, we bond over baseball and we are well educated. Baseball has helped me learn, grow and mature as a person.
Growing up in a baseball family has taught me to appreciate the little things in life. It is not always about the big flashy things in life. Sometimes all you need is a bleacher seat and a ballpark hotdog. Or in our terms, it's not always about hitting 40 homeruns in a season, sometimes you just need a utility player.
