Spring is here!  (Honest. It's in the air, despite the weather)

You know what that means, Aunties: it's time to make a date with your niece or nephew or that special kid in your life and go to a baseball game. It doesn't really matter if you know the game or you bleed pinstripes; there is something quite magical - and quite American - about sitting down and watching the start of a new baseball season.  

I don't think I've ever been to a ballpark for opening day, but I love this time of year. It's in the air....and it's not the smell of hot dogs or the roar of the crowd; it's hope; opportunity; a fresh start for fans and players alike.

I am pretty sure that just as often as a game of catch is played, something is written about baseball. There are countless books, movies, plays and stories waxing poetic or calculating batting averages or RBI (runs batted in). So, as I sit here wanting to tell you why it is important to get in the game, even just to sit in the stands, I couldn't say it any better than Jack Norworth did back in 1908.


"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Go on Aunties, take them out to the ball game!

Amy Shigo is a sports journalist.

Published: March 31, 2011