Written By: Tim Johnson
Director of ESL Program + Business Instructor | Aston American University
The origins of baseball are thought to have originated over thousands of years, but the modern game started to really take its form in the 1700s. By the late 1800s, baseball as we know it, was virtually the same as we see it today, on television or in a live setting. Today, Major League Baseball is a multibillion-dollar industry and this game is known as “America’s Pastime.” Why is it called this? I read somewhere that this game “resonates more deeply in the country’s soul than any other sport.” It is a game unlike football and basketball; baseball can be played well by people of average height and weight.
The game of baseball can be considered complicated to many people (mostly foreigners). Most children in the United States start to play baseball very early on in life. I started around 3 years old playing with my father. We often played together in the front yard of our house in Miami, Florida. I would usually be the hitter and my father the pitcher. We also played “catch” quite often because the game is not all about hitting.
My first full organized game was later in my life. But before then during little league, I played a few organized games called “Coach Pitch” (when the coach on your team is the pitcher). In 2nd grade our family moved in the middle of baseball season, but it wasn’t until 5th grade that I played my first full organized baseball season. This was the season where I was selected to be on the All-Star baseball team and continued to play for them until I started college. Being recognized as an “All-Star” is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their sport. In 8th grade, my school created its first baseball team and I was the team’s starting catcher. In sports, a “starter” is someone who is picked first to play or represent their team.
Having played baseball during my early years and professionally in Europe as an adult, I have many reasons to be thankful for it. The smells at a baseball game are limitless; fresh hotdogs fill the air as well as the freshly cut grass. Sometimes, even peanuts and cotton candy can fill the air around the field. If you have never been to a baseball game, I encourage you to attend a game someday so that you can take in all the sights, sounds and smells of a baseball game.
Baseball is similar to school and/or learning: You can never give up, and you will always have to believe in yourself. If you give up or don’t believe in yourself, you and your team are destined to fail. As said in the film “Bull Durham,” which is one of the greatest baseball movies of all time: “Baseball is a simple game: you throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes, it rains. Think about that.”
Chat Club: Have you ever watched an American Baseball game? What is your favorite part of the game?
