The MLB is back! My Top 5 Reasons for Being Excited

One month ago the temperature around here barely got above 0 degrees.  Today, we topped out at 71 wonderful degrees.  That might mean lots of different things to people, but to me, that means baseball is just around the corner.  

It shouldn't be any secret that I love the game and have since I was a little kid, but like many things in 2021, the return of baseball just seems to be extra special.  Yes, we got a bit of a season and a World Series in 2020, but the prospects of a full season, postseason, and World Series with fans in the stands seems different.  

Here are the top 5 reasons I am excited for the return of baseball: 

5. The exciting young players in the game: 

This is a great time to be a baseball fan.  There are some really exciting veteran players out there who put on a show every game: Aaron Judge, Javy Baez, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts to name just a few.  The exciting young players in the league; however, may be the reason to tune in to games this year.  First there are the sons of former baseball stars: Vladimir Gurerro Jr. Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Fernando Tatis, Jr.  Then there are the other exciting young players like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Randy Arozarena, and Ke'Bryan Hayes. I could keep going on there are so many to watch.  

4. Fantasy Baseball:

I have been doing some sort of Fantasy Baseball since 1988.  It started with pencil and paper and digging through the USA Today team stats that would publish on Tuesdays (I think), to Sandbox, to now, Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.  I have been in the league I am with now for several years.  I am not particularly good at Fantasy Baseball because I draft with my heart and loyalties and I draft who I "feel" will have great years.  I rarely draft stars of the game.  I don't know why, but it has turned out well a few seasons.  In our league of 10 teams, I am one of four of us who has won the league at least twice.  I will never have a dynasty Fantasy Baseball team, but I do look forward to putting a team together and seeing how it does.    

3. Long Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a ballgame on: 

Oh my goodness, how is this not number one or two?  There is nothing greater than a warm weekend afternoon, turning on a game, laying down, dozing off in the third or fourth inning to wake in the seventh or eighth inning to watch the end of the game.  What is better than that????  

2. Watching my favorite teams the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs: 

I have always been a Cubs fan.  I grew up in a football house where the Chicago Bears ruled, but somehow I fell in love with the Cubs.  Was it that they were on WGN?  Was it that they played at 1:20 (2:20 on Fridays) and were on when I came home from school?  Was it the visits to Wrigley Field with a church group once or twice a season?  Was it the pinstripes, the success of the 1984 team?  I have no idea, but I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't love the North Side Cubbies.  Why I follow the Detroit Tigers is a story for another day, but it goes back to Sparky Anderson, Allan Trammel, Sweet Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, Cecil Fielder, Ivan Rodriguez, and more.  

1. Sitting in the stands watching a ballgame in person: 

Any other year, this would be fourth or fifth on my list.  I don't go to many games anymore.  Two years ago, I was able to take my oldest daughter, who is a loyal Cub fan, to Wrigley to see the Cubs play.  They lost that game, and I turned to her and said, "Well, now you are truly a Cubs fan."  

This reason to be excited is that I didn't feel that I missed much in the pandemic.  I didn't miss going to school functions like choir or band concerts, eating in restaurants, attending graduations, stuff like that.  I am not generally a crowd kind of person, but I did miss sitting in a stadium, small or large, watching the most perfect game.  I miss seeing a live double play develop in front of my eyes.  I miss hearing the bat hitting the ball on the sweet spot and knowing that is a home run.  I miss the announcers and the cheesy music. I miss spilling overpriced beer on the toes of my shoes.  I miss filling out the scorecard and being possibly the only one doing it for fun.  I miss it all.  I can't wait to sit in the stands of our local high A minor league team.  I hope to visit a large stadium in Chicago or St. Louis and take in the sound of the crowd on a pivotal moment strikeout or home run, or third out in the ninth inning.  That is what baseball does for me.  It brings me hope.  Hope that everything will be okay.  Win or lose, it will be okay.