Apologies if this response is too late! I was out last week. I got into baseball as a kid, stopped following it in the mid-90s and started following again in 2019. The past several years have...
Apologies if this response is too late! I was out last week.
I got into baseball as a kid, stopped following it in the mid-90s and started following again in 2019. The past several years have enriched my day-to-day greatly.
When I was a kid in the 1980s three things got me into baseball:
I played a lot of whiffle ball. Eventually, I played Little League.
In the mid- to late-80s, my babysitter's husband would bet us nickels (that he provided) on Braves games. This was in 86 or 87 when they were very bad so he usually won his money back. The Braves were on TBS every day, so it was easy to become a Braves (and Dale Murphy fan).
I had a TV in my room with basic cable, so I watched a lot of Braves (and some Cubs) games.
In the mid-90s, I lost interest. Baseball seemed slow. Over time, the steroid scandals pushed me further from the game.
Cut to 2019. I do a fantasy-type contest with two friends (we are a team) where we end up picking 10 different sports all year long in a big contest (300-500 teams). The top teams can wind up winning thousands of dollars. I was tasked with inputting our baseball picks, and one of the teams we'd selected was the Phillies. Bryce Harper had just gotten there, and they were hyped. However, I bungled it, and picked the Nationals for us. They proceeded to start the season 19-31.
Mistakes happen, but this year, our picks in other sports all did really well. My mistake looked likely to cost my friends hundreds of dollars. I felt horrible and started following each Nats game closely--each win mitigating my mistake slightly. Over a long and fun summer, they turned things around and eventually won the Series. My mistake ended up netting my friends and I about $2000 each.
That year got me really into the Nats. I've stuck with them through the rebuild, listening to games on MLB radio while doing chores around the house and watching games when I can. I'm in Texas and don't know any Nats fans here, but I look forward to listening to games while cooking and doing dishes in the evenings.
Apologies if this response is too late! I was out last week.
I got into baseball as a kid, stopped following it in the mid-90s and started following again in 2019. The past several years have enriched my day-to-day greatly.
When I was a kid in the 1980s three things got me into baseball:
In the mid-90s, I lost interest. Baseball seemed slow. Over time, the steroid scandals pushed me further from the game.
Cut to 2019. I do a fantasy-type contest with two friends (we are a team) where we end up picking 10 different sports all year long in a big contest (300-500 teams). The top teams can wind up winning thousands of dollars. I was tasked with inputting our baseball picks, and one of the teams we'd selected was the Phillies. Bryce Harper had just gotten there, and they were hyped. However, I bungled it, and picked the Nationals for us. They proceeded to start the season 19-31.
Mistakes happen, but this year, our picks in other sports all did really well. My mistake looked likely to cost my friends hundreds of dollars. I felt horrible and started following each Nats game closely--each win mitigating my mistake slightly. Over a long and fun summer, they turned things around and eventually won the Series. My mistake ended up netting my friends and I about $2000 each.
That year got me really into the Nats. I've stuck with them through the rebuild, listening to games on MLB radio while doing chores around the house and watching games when I can. I'm in Texas and don't know any Nats fans here, but I look forward to listening to games while cooking and doing dishes in the evenings.