Oh...I'm sorry, did you think I was talking about that kind of diamond???? No no no. I'm talking about the OTHER diamond in a girl's life.
The baseball diamond. A sight I wish to see hundreds of times in my lifetime. The sight of that just cut of green grass, the smell of hot dogs and peanuts in the distance, and the tune of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" playing in the background. This is where I'm meant to be.
In the first post, I spoke of how my favorite quote to live by is from Yogi Berra: one of the greatest baseball players to EVER live! This is where I am quite different than most girls my age. Boys...I probably know more about baseball than you EVER will. Sorry. Haha.
My love for baseball came from my dad, who got it from my grandpa. In fact, my dad told me once about how my grandpa played with a guy that got a call to come down to the St. Louis Cardinals. That's a pretty cool story to have. In 2006, my dad took my little brother and I on our first of many trips. I had been to baseball games before, watching my beloved Minnesota Twins, but this was my first time ever watching a game in-person outside of the Metrodome. He took us to a Twins game in Chicago to U.S. Cellular Field to watch the Twins take on the White Sox, who had just won the World Series the year before. It was only the beginning for my love of baseball.
Every year from then on, we travel to a new ballpark to the watch the Twins. I've seen the stadiums of the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, and the Colorado Rockies. Each an experience I will never forget. My passion for the game grew more and more. I learned as much as I could. Not only about the ins and outs of the game itself, but its history. I thrive on learning of past great legends of the game. Babe Ruth, Tedd Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Harmon Killebrew, Stan "The Man" Musial, Yogi Berra, so many to name, it'd take me forever. I literally sat for days watching the Baseball documentary Ken Burns made years ago. It fascinated me!
To many of my friends growing up, they didn't understand my love for the game. To them, baseball was the most boring sport to watch because nothing happened too often. I see it differently. Something new is always happening every few seconds...that is, if you are watching carefully.
I saw something today on the Twins' Facebook page that it's down to 25 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Makes me happy because I'm ready for baseball again. It's something that my dad and I can connect on. I could probably sit for hours with him and chat about baseball. In fact, a couple days ago, we had about a 30 minute conversation simply on the topic of the new Commissioner considering banning the defensive shift (which don't get me started by the way on that). It's also something for my mom and I to watch together on TV. It gives me a unique connection to each of them, because no offense to my siblings, but baseball just isn't your thing. Haha.
So that's why I look to Yogi Berra so much for inspiration. Baseball in general brings me inspiration. Baseball allows you to see that it's ok to fail sometimes. Think about it...Ted Williams posted a .405 average in 1941, the last major leaguer to post an above .400 average in a single season. To achieve this, it still meant that only 4 out of every 10 at bats, he hit the ball. The other 6 times, he failed. Yet, he is seen as a great. That's what makes baseball amazing. There's so much going on in such a simple game. It's America's past time. When I met my boyfriend, Nicholas, I remember his great-grandma telling me that he was hard to talk to because all he talked about was baseball. I looked at her and went, "So?" It was the connection of baseball that brought us together and keeps us close. It's something in common we can all do together. I wish I could go to more games, and hope I can when I'm older and can afford it. Haha. I'd love to attend an Opening Day game one day too. Just one of many things on my baseball bucket list.
So, see....diamonds are a girl's best friend. Maybe not the diamond all girls want, but for me, it's better than any diamond jewelry. Counting down to Spring Training and Opening Day!
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