The Magic of Baseball and What it Means to You?

[Armor and Sword]

The Magic of Baseball and What it Means to You?

We are back this year with a fun and typically heartwarming thread!

I will be giving away one Standard Copy of MLB The Show 25 (either on the X or PS5 depending on your system). The runner up will get an official MLB The Show Tee-shirt compliments of fellow OS member Houston!

It's a really simple. Simply make one post about "What Baseball Means to You".

This has always been a great thread and I have read some incredible stories over the years we had done this.

I have not been this excited to play a new MLB game since MLB 20 so I decided to bring this back. I hope everyone enjoys the stories.

The deadline to post and be considered will be Sunday March 2nd 11:59 PM EST



Baseball has been a game that has been a part of my life since as early as I can remember.....going back to 5 years old. Those are my earliest memories of hitting tennis balls with this over sized navy blue colored plastic bat. From that first moment of contact.....I was hooked.

55 years young now.....so baseball has been in my life for 50 years. From playing all the way thru 2 years of college, mens open hardball, softball and then coaching a lot from tee ball thru high school showcase ball....it's been a journey.

My son is currently a collegiate ball player playing in Raleigh NC and is going into his Sophomore campaign. He also played for the 5 time 7A State and National Champion Stoneman Douglas Eagles (winning it in 2021/2022/2023) and playing with guys like Coby Mayo, Roman Anthony, Gavin Conticello and the newest pros to be drafted last season in Devin Fitzgerald and Jayden Dubanawitz along with many current college players. I had the pleasure of coaching and having a hand in developing a lot of these guys from 13-16 years old. And most of that development was taking place between the ears. I always focused on the mental part of the game during my years coaching 13 years old and up....at that point it is 90% mental while you wait for them to develop into their man bodies. I can easily write a book on the do's and don'ts of travel/high school and college baseball. Maybe one day......

Watching my son has been my greatest joy and pleasure in this game I love and yes he too has professional aspirations and I hope he keeps chasing that dream. He has the talent and work ethic and most importantly mental toughness needed to potentially succeed at the next level. But even if in the likely event it does not happen....I will always have this life long journey I took starting at age 5 all the way thru to whenever my son is told he can no longer play a child's game and then it will continue on I am sure into other ways. But baseball will always be in my life.

Baseball has taught me humility, discipline and grace in how I handle life's curveballs and how to treat others with respect. It also has taught me how anything......and I mean anything is possible.

I look forward to reading all your own stories and it is always hard to pick just one....but there can be only one game given away.

Have fun with it and let's all enjoy MLB The Show 25 to the fullest this year.

Baseball is life.

[KnightTemplar]

Well….it means that if some dope didn’t invent the curveball I coulda been a star.

[jcar0725]

It reminds me of being a kid. For some reason, as soon as I could learn to read it seems, I would sit for an hour every morning and read the game stats from the previous night for every team in the league in the morning sports page, then I would read the "league leaders" every day and watch players stats rise and fall throughout the entire season. I was addicted to watching MLB players get called to the big leagues and see how their careers would pan out. I watched THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL every weekend, and that song today "gathering crowds" makes me hold back tears because I can remember those days like it was yesterday.

My first game, my dad took me to see Cleveland vs Detroit, and Mark the bird Fidrych was pitching for Detroit. I argued playfully with a detroit fan kid on the train to the stadium as to which team was going to win. I was probably 6-8 years old.

Fun fact, as a kid I used to think every batter started with a .300 batting average, and then would rise above or fall below that number based on their performance. I took me awhile to understand what those numbers meant.

Armor I don't want the free game giveaway, so don't consider me for the prize. Give it to someone else please. I just wanted to share the story.

[KnightTemplar]

My dad had an offer to pitch for Boston (he was born in 1914, died young at 50), but wanted to get married. He was my little league coach. My oldest brother was in Special Services in the Air Force and did nothing but play football, baseball and basketball. Knee injuries prohibited from accepting an offer from the Redskins. My other brother pitched a no-hitter in a local amateur league so it runs in the blood.

For me 16 homers in 14 little league games, collecting 5 cent packs of baseball cards, then I discovered the guitar and all that stopped as I played in rock bands for 4 years. Off to the military and spent 4 years in Vietnam and the guitar playing stopped too.

But I always kept up with my last place Phillies. Loved the feel of the newspaper with the box scores, many of which I cut out of the paper.

On to civilian life where I played fast pitch softball along with 3 pitch.

I discovered video games and collected most of the baseball games and to this day it’s like Christmas Day. In a couple weeks it will be MLBTV followed by The Show 25.

Forever grateful. Like JCar…..don’t choose me. I’ve everything I want in life.

[dowie]

So many great memories—T-ball, city ball, travel ball, school ball. If there was a game, I was playing.

I, too, remember the ’80s, grabbing the sports section every morning and breaking down box scores like my life depended on it. Before cable, before games were everywhere, that was how baseball came alive in my head. Those stats meant something.

And who could forget the MLB-themed Slurpee cups?

Racing home from practice to catch TWIB on Saturday mornings?

Or flipping on WGN right after school to watch the Cubs play?

For those of us who grew up in cold-weather states, pre-season indoor practices were a must—snow still on the ground, but we were out there taking BP inside a freezing gym. It wasn’t work. It was awesome.

One of the coolest things my dad ever did? Built me a stickball field in the backyard. Okay, it was a pitcher’s mound and some mowed baselines, but to me, it was perfect. If we were outside, we were playing something—stickball, wiffleball, HR derby, pickle—didn’t matter.

But maybe the best proof of what baseball means to me?

The baseball road trips.

Before wives, kids, and real responsibilities, a few buddies and I made it a ritual: pick 3 to 5 stadiums, hop in the car, and go. No flying. Just the open road and baseball.

We hit some epic combos:
- Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore
- Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis
- Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
- And the most insane one: Seattle, Colorado, Kansas City, St. Louis—all in one trip (starting from home in Detroit area).

Just a bunch of dudes, talking about life, but mostly baseball.

And then there’s that moment—the first time you walk into a real MLB ballpark. That first glimpse of the field, the smell of fresh-cut grass, the crack of the bat echoing through the concourse. If you’ve ever set foot in places like Wrigley, Fenway, Dodger Stadium, Old Comiskey, or Tiger Stadium, you know—it’s more than just a game. It’s a time machine.

These days, The Show keeps my love of baseball alive. I may not be taking live ABs anymore, but I’m still working counts, painting corners, and discussing sliders to get the game just right. Huge props to the developers for keeping us old-timers playing video games and talking baseball on streams.

Baseball—there’s nothing like it. The history, the memories—all of it.

It's funny, the older I get the more a lot of memories fade, except for baseball.

I can still remember the 1st MLB game I ever went to in 1982 (Tigers vs Angels). Carew, Jackson, Grinch....I couldn't believe it, these dudes were real! Parrish hit 2 dingers that game BTW.

Can anyone else remember a specific AB you had as a youth, or a play you made in the field or a pitch you threw? I can. Which is odd, because I can't remember what I had for dinner 2 days ago.

And that there is why baseball is so special - it somehow grabs hold of us and never lets go.


Dowie

[KnightTemplar]

Dowie…..yes, I can remember.

Kenny Davis was one of the tough little league pitchers (If there was such a thing in 1958). He played for the Moose Lodge. I cracked a ball well over the 200 foot mark in left field. Next time at bat I heard a sarcastic voice from behind the backstop…”bet you can’t do that again”….crack, high fly ball, left fielder puts both hands up to catch it up against the fence. He sucked and the ball went thru his hands probably 201 feet.

And the crowd went crazy……I think.

[Armor and Sword]

1985 I was a freshman and hit 9 HR’s in 20 games including 2 Grand Slams…..yeah that was a good year.

[liftheavy9]

It reminds me of the fundamentals that is lost in today’s game. Respecting the player for having more walks than strikeouts. Loved reading those on the back of their baseball card. Laying down a sac bunt…working the count. No silly 3 batter minimum…running over the catcher…so much has been lost. The Cleveland Indians…the pine tar…the brush back pitches…the Nolan Ryan beat down of Robin Ventura. Love the respect players had for the game…not worried about what they looked like…what they wore…just baseball players.