Pitchers and catchers report. The baseball season's spring training has officially begun. For the first time in six years, I will not see a Mariner's game for the entire year. I'm a little upset about that.
I will get to see the Triple-A Binghamton Mets. That'll be fun. But no Major League games, no Ichiro, no cheering what is likely Junior's last season. I'll have to watch online, read the Mariner's blogs, and envision green grass and cool summers in Seattle as the Mariner's roll to a probable division title and lands beyond. It's sad.
I've always rooted for professional sports teams near where I live. I watched what games were on, and didn't concern myself greatly with who won. It was about the game. It's still about the game, but years of going to the ballpark and watching and hearing the history of the Seattle Mariner's means that I am hooked. This is my team. The kids were born here, and I will always love Seattle. So, I'm a Mariner's fan.
It's like my college. I'm going to a different grad school, I've not lived in West Virginia since 2000, but I went to WVU. That's my undergrad school, so that's the college team I follow. There's no way around it.
It's different with baseball anyway. I like watching sports. I just finished a curling match (match? game? I don't even know) between the US and Japan, and I enjoyed it. Women's curling caught my attention for a few minutes. I like sports. But baseball is special. Baseball is geometry and statistics. Baseball is patience and speed. The defense controls the ball in baseball, and the pitcher and batter duel dozens of times a day. It's the greatest game in history.
And I'm going to miss my team's season.
Well, if Seattle is in the World Series, I'm flying back here. And staying in a hotel, and watching every game.
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