First essay in the series "Why I Love Minor League Baseball" written by those who love it.
There are so many things my family loves about MiLB that I was all over the place with my writing and my thoughts.
There are all the typical things you hear when people talk about MiLB: lower ticket prices, smaller stadiums that offer more fan-friendly experiences in a family atmosphere, concessions that you can actually afford, crazy on-field promotion that often come with cool prizes, team sponsored giveaways, and between-inning entertainment that will open your eyes to things you never thought you’d ever see.
But the one thing that we all kept coming back to in our conversations were the people.
Here begins our family's story. In 2003 the Atlanta Braves made the decision to move their low-A farm team from Macon, Georgia to Rome, Georgia. Rome is a fairly small town and this was quite an exciting addition for us, both in terms of entertainment and employment. A good friend offered us his opening night tickets and off we went. Our small son was only 4 ½ months old at the time, so we were pleased to find our seats were right behind home plate on the first row - tucked safely behind the backstop netting.
We parked his car seat carrier in the seat between us and enjoyed the game. We spent a lot of time looking at a talented young catcher. His name was Brian McCann.
Being a native Atlantan, and having been to many Atlanta Braves games, I was amazed at the closeness of everything. We were used to seeing baseball players that looked like ants! This…this was amazing!!! Needless to say, we were hooked and have been ever since. Fast forward a few years…..
Baseball is pretty much part of our everyday lives now. We seldom miss a home game if we can help it. I guess you are wondering about those people I referred to earlier. Well, let me tell you about them. We have met the most amazing people because of baseball and are blessed, now, to have friends in many different states and countries, playing on a multitude of levels including MLB, MiLB, Indy league teams and representing their countries on national teams. We dread the off-season and count the days until we can get down to Orlando for spring training.
Over the past eight years we have made friends with our seatmates, other season ticket holders, fan club members, stadium employees, players, their families and friends, parent club employees and random strangers.
We have rejoiced as our section’s usher won a fight with cancer and were amazed that he never missed a home game, even during his treatments!!!
We strive to learn our players as people each year, give them nicknames, support them in any way we can, and cheer for our team in good times and bad. As fans, we rejoice when our players get promoted and advance, and we are heartbroken when they get released or sent back down.
I never imagined that simply loving the game would cause such an emotional attachment or affect us in ways that reach beyond the field.
We have challenged ourselves to work on our Spanish, we’ve bought maps and learned about other countries and cultures, we’ve messaged, skyped and emailed during the off-season, and this past season we started traveling to see some of our former players play in the higher levels of minor league ball.
We learned no matter where we went that the love the game exceeds most anything. It doesn’t care about age, race, sex, national origin or where you work. It doesn’t care if you’ve had a bad day or a good day. It doesn’t care if you have kids or if you ARE a kid. It’s there, it’s dependable, and yet it’s never the same.
One day it can be 9 quick innings, another it can be 20 innings, over at midnight and you’re thinking you’re going to freeze to death!
It’s the joy of watching people work hard to make their dreams come true. It’s spending time with my family. It’s watching my young son try to put into use (at his own little league practice) what he sees his heroes doing on the field. It’s the accessibility of the players, at this level, and their willingness to interact with young fans because they haven’t forgotten the dreams of their own youth.
There are so many things that are woven together that make up the fabric of minor league baseball - but for us it‘s so much more than just a game. It's the friendships that last all year round, forged between little kids with stars in their eyes and huge dreams, and bigger kids who haven't forgotten that feeling.