What Do You Mean I Don't Have a Million Dollar Contract?

While spring may signal the beginning of baseball season for the multimillion dollar boys in 30 cities around the country, it also means its time for the amateur ball players around the country to break out the bats, dust off their gloves, and squeeze into baseball pants after a long, dormant winter.

There is nothing better than waking up to a beautiful spring morning, sunlight pouring in your windows and knowing you get to go outside and run around in it for a little bit. I’m not sure there is anything that can compare to the feel of the grass, the smell of the air, chasing down fly balls and the sound of a bat hitting a ball.

You get to feel like a kid for a couple hours, reminiscent of the days of Little League, except hopefully you’re a little better now and can throw the ball a little harder. We still get to the field dressed in uniforms, fool around in the dugout and eat sunflower seeds till our stomachs hurt. But now instead of our moms and dads in the stands, we have girlfriends, and at the end of the game we get to drive ourselves home instead of piling into the back seat of Mom’s minivan. We may not be the best, but it definitely is great to have something to look forward to each weekend and know you’re going to enjoy it.

It makes me want the week to go by that much quicker and gets me that much more upset when the rain gods decide to do their little dance Saturday night/Sunday morning. Just because we may not be the best does not mean we do not take the game seriously. Unlike Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and all the other super stars of the diamond, we dream of diving and running everyday while they live it.



But we keep our pride, and we still play for keeps. You’ll be hard pressed to find a weekend game where you don’t see one of several things: a player arguing with an umpire, a player cursing (usually at an umpire), and someone getting upset himself for committing an error. We may even take our games a little more seriously and they may stick with us a little longer than with pros. They have the advantage of getting to make up for it tomorrow or the next day at the most. Us? We have to wait six days before lacing up the cleats again and stepping between the lines or picking up a bat.

We get injured probably a lot more often than professional players and take care of injuries a lot worse. Pulled quad? Strained hamstring? Sore arm? Play through them. In a 20 game season, you don’t have time to sit in the bench for two weeks and relax while your team takes the field.

But its one of those things you wouldn’t trade for the world; the chance to keep playing the game you love. You can try softball if you want, but it’s not the same. I played for the summer after my freshman year of college, and it only made me want to play hard ball that much more. Yes, baseball is harder, you have to run a little further between bases, and you play with less fielders, but it only gives you more satisfaction when you succeed.

So go find a team, put on your favorite jersey, pull your hat down way over your eyes, and pretend to be who ever the hell you want to be. Spend 3 hours a week running around, swinging a bat, and having some fun. It does a body good.