A game so special, built on the roots of Major League Baseball in the United States. It has helped create a love for the game that starts very young. However, the love for baseball doesn’t just occur in the United States but worldwide, from China to Puerto Rico to Canada to Australia to the Dominican Republic to Cuba to Mexico.
That love was on full display during the 2023 World Baseball Classic as fans all around the world tuned in to watch their country fight for a chance at the gold medal. While the love for the game of baseball is known, the question for so many others is why is baseball loved so much? To answer that question is much more than a single word or sentence but for a long list of reasons, with everyone having their own personal reasons to love baseball.
Growing up watching Major League Baseball on TV to heading to a local ballpark, my passion for the game increased. From picking up a baseball at a young age to throwing the ball to play catch with your father, brother, sister, or mother. Baseball becomes entrenched in our lives, from a chance to play with friends on the abandoned corner field or to the tennis courts to play home derby while emulating the idols of the game or playing with our favorite baseball stars in our living rooms with MLB The Show to even trading baseball cards of our favorite players.
In countries like Japan, baseball is entrenched in children’s lives at a young age while often being pushed to excel, much like one is pushed in school. In other countries, the love of the game is a chance to be a local hero while opening a path from poverty to riches. That very love of the game has created a drive that pushes us to expect more to want more baseball.
Baseball is a game that can be played in a wide range of environments with just a stick and a ball while enjoying the company while making new friends along the way. The game of baseball is a passion-filled sport, from cowbells in Puerto Rico to drums in Japan and Korea to favorite walkup songs of top songs as Major League Baseball players walk to the plate. While it is still hard to put a finger on just one reason why baseball is loved by so many and loved by so many people around the world.
Suppose passion isn’t enough to create the love for the game, the excitement, the thrill, the ability to witness greatness with just one swing, to a play at the plate, or a player scaling the outfield wall to bring back a home run. There is so much baseball delivers to everyone, young or old, regardless of gender, size, or shape. You don’t have to be dangerously fast or extremely tall. Just think about it: players such as Jose Altuve, who is just 5 foot 6 inches tall, while Randy Johnson stood 6 foot 10 inches on the mound.
The game is built around building memories that can be shared for a lifetime, but more importantly, the game allows us all to come together as one on the diamond and within the stands. These memories we, as fans of the game of baseball, can carry for a lifetime. Whether it was the first time you met your best friend playing catch a tee ball practice, the time you picked up your first hit in a big game, or the chance to pass your love for baseball on to the next generation of baseball fans and baseball players.
Baseball is a game of momentum, a game of excitement, a game of joy, a game of heartbreak, and a game that, as fans, we all come to love. No matter the outcome in the diamond, the heartbreak, or what other sport will take over for the next season, baseball fans can all say nothing can break the love we have for the game of baseball.
