MLB Baseball begins, Diamondbacks open, and my family grows. #Arizona #sports

Decked out in Sedona red, crowds are gathering at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, for Opening Day. Soon I’ll enter the gate with my family and friends, my eyes will mist, and I will likely cry. OK, I’ll definitely cry and not because of last year and the obvious uphill battle my home team faces this season.

I love a good struggle and learned about the ups and downs of sports as a kid growing up in football country. Later I added other sports to my follow list to include Olympic sports, basketball, and tennis, the sport my husband played in college.

But baseball? Not on my radar. Henry Diamondbacks

My son, Aiden, brought baseball into my life when he was a very little kid. When our family moved to Arizona, we chose the Diamondbacks to be our team because we had no previous loyalties and its root, root, root, for the home team.

We love our team like we love our family, through ups and downs. Loyalty is bittersweet.

I’m misty-eyed because of the up and down memories of eleven Opening Days. We always bring friends, sometimes very large groups, to include those who don’t know baseball. Yet. We want everyone we love to love baseball, too.

As with anything we love, there are bumpy times. I recall the year that my soon-to-be son-in-law and I locked horns for the first time. We laugh about that now. And the year my boys brought girls instead of their teammates. Something about being “just friends.” I’m still not laughing about that. The cliché is true; our children grow up fast.

Opening Day has become a gauge of our family’s growth. IMG_6256

We’ve come a long way from sitting in the nosebleed seats when my young daughter and I struggled to figure out who “that guy they keep showing on the screen” was. He was some guy named Albert Pujols. Now my daughter is grown, married, and a mother herself living in Washington State. She is allowed to follow the Mariners, but not to cheer for them more than for the D-backs.

And this year, for the first time, Aiden will not attend with us. I will miss him deeply and with enormous gratitude and pride. Instead of sharing a Churro Dog with me, my son, the one who started it all, will be playing college baseball.

Do you follow baseball? If so, what is your favorite team? If not, what are your favorite sports or activities that you will enjoy this spring?

Like Easter and spring, today is full of hope and new life. With a baseball hat on my head and a beer in my hand I toast to Opening Day, to spring, and to you. Cheers! ~~~~~~~~ Angie Mc

34 thoughts on “MLB Baseball begins, Diamondbacks open, and my family grows. #Arizona #sports”

    • Is this the year the Cubs take it all, Sylvester? 😀 I honestly do hope that I see that glorious day! I know the Coyotes are out I’ll likely catch some of the NHL playoffs because my men will jump in.

      Can you believe I’ve never seen the Coyotes play live? Next season 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I’m not going to go out on a limb, because I’d surely fall to the ground. As a diehard Cub’s fan would say “I believe it could be”. I went to my very first Blackhawks game last year. It is an exciting experience. Next season for sure, you and the guys 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I’m a huge baseball fan. I still follow the White Sox from my old hometown, and the Braves from my current one. When I traveled, I got a chance to see the Reds in Riverfront Stadium, the Pirates in Three Rivers Stadium, and the Dodgers in Dodger Stadium, as well as the Durham Bulls when they were still a Class A team for the Braves, the Greenville Braves, and the Iowa Cubs. I blew a few other chances to see minor and major league games. But yeah, I love baseball. It’s the only sport I actually understand.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Glad to see you again, John, and I’m so happy to connect with another fan! Oh, my, what wonderful experiences you have had 😀 I’ve had the privilege of attending a bunch of spring training locally, have been to 2 All Star Games, and Padres & Angels fields. My men have been to more, including Giants, Red Sox, Cardinals, old Yankees, and a few I’m forgetting. We talk about doing a huge family trip to all MLB cities. Wouldn’t that be the best?!

      Like

      Reply

      • I’ve wanted to do that since reading “Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks” (which reminds me, I’ve also been to Fenway, Wrigley Field, old Comiskey Park, and new Comiskey Park, now called US Cellular Field, and Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). It’s a good book; the author and a friend of his took a trip where they went to all the ballparks that were in existence in 1985. I’ve had to give up that idea, though, because of my stroke.

        Like

      • Thanks for the book recommendation and I’m so happy for all that you have done. My heart breaks a little for the baseball dreams that you, and I, won’t live. Baseball, the sport that breaks your heart, too.

        Like

  5. Great post Angie! I’m loving my Chi-town fans here! Although I’ve read little South side vs. North side banter….although that could get ugly..you know us Chicago people, it’s all fun and games until someone dogs on your stompin’ grounds. Cubbies and Sox have my ❤ forever and always, and well with living in Arizona 15 years now, the Dbacks have grown on me too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • You know I love my Chi-town friends! Magnetic! It definitely has something to do with baseball….and attitude….and pizza 😀

      Thank you for stopping by my blog and for letting the Dbacks grow on you. Isn’t life more fun when you “root root root for the home team”? Why yes it is 🙂 Leinenkugal helps 😀

      Like

      Reply

  6. Another baseball fan! Angie, I’m a Red Sox fan living in New York state, which is always interesting given the number of Yankee fans around here. I brainwashed my 3 boys into being Sox fans as well — the 2004 ALCS didn’t hurt, either. My middle son lives in Seattle and sees the Mariners when he can, but he’s still a Sox fan! Good luck to the D-backs and to your son as well!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yay, Jim! We’re Red Sox fans, too! They are my American League team. My now 16 year old fell for them when he was little and he has stayed especially committed. My 9 year old has a mouse named Big Papi 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Oh there’s more, Jim. His other 2 mice are Bryce Harper (who is white with black patches on his eyes) and Dbacks Paul Goldschmidt who was golden so we called him Goldie. Notice, I said “was.” There has been a death in the mouse family. I have a pending post about it 🙂

        Like

      • Pets are one teachable moment after another, aren’t they? As for Bryce Harper, the Nats are MY National League team. My oldest son lived in DC for 3 years and we’d go to a game every time I visited. I miss it! The Nats’ AAA farm team is in Syracuse, where I live, so there’s that connection as well. Harper is a freak of nature!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Whoop whoop! We’ve been following Bryce Harper since he was 15? He’s 2 years older than my oldest son who has read *everything* about baseball since he was little. I remember my son telling me about this phenom who hit a ball *crazy* far out of a park. Yes, we’ve been rooting for Bryce. And, boy have the Nats come a long way. They stole, I mean recruited, Matt Williams from the Dbacks and dang it, I miss him. But I care enough for him that I wish him every success. Pretty cool that you have this connection with your son and the Nats. I’ll tell you, Dave and I may just need to get ourselves to Syracuse next time we’re back to the east coast. You and Mark B can set us up with baseball tickets and the best food and brew in town 😀

        Like

      • That sounds great, Angie! Our city’s struggling economically, but there are bright spots. And baseball is one of them! The Nats aren’t off to such a great start, but as you well know, it’s a long season … 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Great post, Angie! I love the notion of embracing a team as a family.

    My husband and I got to a point where we set aside our childhood teams, which were kind of at odds with one another, and chose a team of our own, that we could both cheer. We couldn’t root for the home team where we currently live, though I tried many years ago. 🙂

    Oh, football, by the way, lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment