Back to the Ballpark

In the early 90's the year consisted of two parts: hockey season and baseball season. One half of the year for hockey and the other half of the year was baseball. It was great.

I spent my falls and winters watching as much hockey as possible and playing as often as I could with the other kids in the neighborhood. My house became the Madison Square Gardens of the Sleepy Hollow area. We happened to be the only people with a working goal.

Once the spring came the transition from hockey to baseball began. Being a Texas Rangers fan in the 90's was very easy, we had Nolan Ryan. I'll never forget some of the games I saw as a small child in the stands of the old Ranger stadium.

My dad, my brother and I would head over to Arlington and park the car a few blocks a way from the stadium. Back then you could bring your own cooler into the park, the only catch was that you had to buy a ticket for it if it was a larger one. I'm not sure how this happened but we never bought four tickets to a game. I guess since I was so small they were okay with me sitting on the cooler. Apparently the cooler was worth more to the park than a tiny little 6-year-old boy with binoculars.

When Ryan threw his sixth no-hitter; I was there.

When Robin Ventura charged the mound after Ryan nailed him with a pitch; I was there.

Despite the history I had with baseball and the love I had for the game it slowly ebbed away after my family moved to Nebraska. I watched LSU in the College World Series but that was about as much into baseball as I got.

Sixteen years later and the itch is back. I started attending the local San Antonio Missions games and I even bought a MLB.tv account so I can watch the games on my computer.

As last season ended and this year's began the most curious thing happened...

I found myself watching one team a lot more than another. I was not watching any Rangers games - the games are blacked out with the online service and I do not actually have regular cable TV at home - I was watching the New York Mets.

I have no way of explaining this phenomenon.

So here I am sixteen years removed from the sport I used to love as a child but now I'm following a new team.

In a way it makes sense.

When I was a child I was too young to really know the intricacies of the game or even most of the players on the Rangers roster. Most if not all of the players I knew as a kid have left the game. It almost seems fitting that with a my interest in baseball being reborn that a new team should come with it.

I do find a slight bit of irony in my new team being the team that originally drafted my all-time favorite player.

With any luck I will see my first Mets game in person when the Astros host the Mets in late July.