The Magic Of Baseball and What it Means To You.

[Armor and Sword]

Hello my OS Show Nation Brethren,

I love baseball. It is a huge part of my life and my family. For MLB 15 and 17 I did a similar thread and read some incredible stories and the one I found that touched me the most was selected and I sent a standard copy of the game.

I am doing it again. But this cycle it will be a copy of the MVP version of MLB The Show 19 and a standard copy of the game as well!

Tell me what baseball means to you. It is my pleasure to give a copy of the game away to someone who shares the same passion about the greatest game on the planet.

If an admin needs to PM me please do so. You know I am good for it.

This Show Forum needs some positive vibes. I love this game and I love how SDS replicates it.

So post away. I will pick two winners (and everyone is a winner for sharing their story but there can be only one copy given away) before release and you will receive the game promptly after it’s release on March 26th (5-7 mailing days).

Deadline for your story is no later than February 28th and I will announce the winners over the first weekend of March. I will PM the winning OS member's to get their mailing info.

Past Winners:

MLB The Show 15 - Badguy1985
MLB The Show 17 - Houston

[Councilmann_Jamm]

My whole life I grew up playing baseball. When I was 14 (1999) I made a select travel team. Come to find out later only reason I was picked as an extra body. So I quit the team and baseball all together. Made a nice little life playing lacrosse afterwards!

Anyway I didn't watch a baseball game again until September 29, 2011. When sweet Robert Andino knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs!

Ever since then I've been hooked again. I went to spring training 2 years ago and met Buck Showalter and thanked him for bringing baseball back into my life.

I've gone on a trip with my dad to a different ballpark every year to watch the Orioles. This year were taking the entire family with us to Seattle!

I've bought Prospect Handbook, Baseball Prospectus every year since.

Baseball is only sport I can watch an entire game of now even though Orioles might not win 60 total games over next 3 years . The only reason I have cable is because I need it to watch Orioles games.

Basically baseball is #best

[countryboy]

I've shared before, but I'll share again.

Baseball to me is family. For those who may not already know from reading my story my Grandpa played in the minors for the St.Louis Cardinals back in the day. My goal was to follow in his footsteps and play professional baseball one day, but I didn't quite get there.

I played from T-Ball all the way thru college. My Little League coaches always consisted of my Grandpa, my Uncle, and my Dad. From T-Ball thru Senior League (13/14 year old) they were my coaches. It was great, as after practice or after games we would either go out to eat or if possible, go catch at the time the Louisville Redbirds baseball game. My springs and summers were spent with them.

Every February when major league players would report to camp, my Grandpa had a camp for myself and my cousin. We went thru various drills, exercises, and were repeatedly taught the fundamentals of the game. I loved those camps and I loved playing for them. And trust me, there was no favoritism.

After Little League I went on to play 4 years of High School ball and then moved on to play at a low level college. After college, my playing days were thru. Nowadays I'll play in some adult baseball leagues and at times softball, but I'm not a fan of it. I only play to stay active.

I'm also passing my love of the game down to my son. We practice and next summer he will be old enough to play T-Ball and I will coach him from T-Ball all the way thru his Little League playing days. I look forward to spending summers with him the same way I spent summers with my Dad, my Uncle, and Grandpa.

So yeah...baseball for me is family.

NOTE: I don't want to be the winner. I just like sharing stories about the game I adore and what its meant to me and done for me.

And this is an awesome thing your doing again A&S.

[Ebpmd]

It's being 52 years old and still remembering the excitement rushing home to watch the Yankees/Red Sox one game playoff in 1978. While some memories seem to fade, baseball memories from my youth are a vivid as if they happened just yesterday. It's not a single moment but a collection of memories that brings me back to a simpler and shall I say better time.

[StormsWarning]

You have a heart of gold old men. Seriously though, you'll be blessed for your gift from the heart. Keep that up. Good to see wisdom passed on to the youth.

Baseball is the purest game there is left from childhood to adulthood imo. It's the getting up at 5 am to catch the sun grazing over the freshly racked dirt from the ground crew the night before, to the family's feeling up the stands whether that's minor or major league level.

It's the sounds of the players taking batting practice with team mates and fans heckling the rival player, to the little kid asking his Dad for a hot dog with extra mustard.

Its excitement of the hoping to maybe get an autographed ball or bat of our favorite player, to that seventh inning stretch still tied 1 to 1 going into the bottom of the 9th with bases loaded, best closer vs best hitter, 2 outs, 3 balls, 2 strikes with the anticipation of what will be and form a lifetime memory.

It's the memorys that makes this game, it's the memorys that we had as a child to adulthood, to elderly.

It's the love of the game that outshines all shadows.

Its Baseball and what it means to me.

I hope everyone can enjoy the game and although I said I would not get it unless serious changes were made.

After writing this and made me realize my own memorys and although it may not be day one 19 will be in my library why?

Because the memorys its Baseball.

Thanks for reminding me that brotha.

[PPerfect_CJ]

Baseball, to me, was all about spending time with my grandpa. He was my best friend and I can remember spending so many weekday afternoons sitting outside in the shade with him listening to the Cardinals day games on our local radio station. Then, we would go into the orchard and he would pitch to me or play catch. Summers were always the best with him. He passed away 8 years ago, last month and I miss him every day. He instilled a love for Cardinals baseball in pretty much my whole family. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend just one more afternoon with him, baseball or not.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

To me, baseball is a way of creating memories that last a lifetime.

It is the sport I played with the most passion growing up, resulting in three-straight trips to our state tournament in high school and many countless memories that I still treasure.

It's the sport I share with friends and family, making trips to Miller Park, Wrigley Field, or whichever ball yard we can find close by when traveling. From tailgating in the parking lots in Milwaukee, to standing in line for hours hoping to get a bobblehead, t-shirt, or other giveaway item...each time, making more memories along the way.

It's the game that provided me with the best memory I have related to sports. Watching on TV, on a mild early November night in 2016, as the Chicago Cubs somehow found a way to reverse the Billy Goat Curse and win a world title after a monumental drought that was nothing but a punchline for 108 years. Memories of watching games with my Cubs-loving grandpa came flooding back after that final out...hearing Harry Caray on the TV, Ron Santo on the radio, Ernie Banks asking to play two...memory after memory, making the moment even more sweeter and the tears fall even faster.

Baseball is a game that creates a lifetime of memories. It's a stage where drama takes place between white chalk lines and on basepaths made of dirt...where heroes take mighty swings, hurlers make a white pill dance and zip, where one error can change the course of history.

To me, baseball is more than just a summer pastime. It's where dreams become reality, and moments become immortal.

[Funkycorm]

I don't want to be chosen as the winner but I want to share.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s playing baseball. My dad coached me quite a bit. His coaching in baseball and life turned me into the husband, father, doctor, and friend I am today.

I grew up going to Indians games with my dad every year. Even before it was progressive field, and Jacobs field. My first experiences at Indians games were in Municipal stadium in the late 80s. My first game ever was at a White Sox game in 1988 when I was 7 years old. It is one of my favorite memories.

He is no longer able to go with me and I now share those experiences at Progressive Field with my 2 boys.

My dad and I would spend hours talking about baseball and still do once in a while.

Baseball means my best childhood memories to me.