i wrote this long ass post about my love of baseball.  how it was the first thing i ever fell in love with as a kid.  how it was the first thing i was ever truly good at.  how playing it as a kid, made me forget all the problems i had going on during my day to day.  it was my first best friend.

     then i lost the paper i wrote it on.  bummer. im sure if you're reading this, you know how much i love baseball.  it's right up there with my love of music, leave it to beaver, hating on random shit & coffee.  

    i mean, its 12:40am & i'm glued to the mlb network, watching a spring training game, between two teams i dont even follow.  teams i have no opinion about.  people are watching late night talk shows, sleeping, watching porn.  not me.  im watching a split squad game between cleveland & milwaukee.  a fuckin split squad game! thats like watching a glorified high school game.  some of the dudes wont get their name on the back of their jersey.  but its baseball.

    last summer i made a promise with myself, that i was going to pack up my car & travel up & down the coast, visiting every mlb/aaa ball park i could.  i broke that promise to myself & have thrown it on the bucket list.  before i die, i will do it.

     so instead, im going to do the next best thing.  im going to visit turner field in atlanta when the padres are in town.  i am going to trek to miami when the padres play there.  im flying to los angeles to visit a relocated pal, & while out there, i will take in no less then three games.  i did however fuck up.  in the excitement in my first california visit in 5 years, i fucked up & booked my flight while my beloved padres are on a roadie.  so ill be seeing the angels & dodgers in anaheim & then the dodgers & mets at dodger stadium.  to make matters worse, the day after i  fly out, the padres arrive in la.  im trying to sweet talk the airline into letting me move my flight into la by two days & leave la by two days.  the things you do for the game you love.

     i dont know where i was going with this.  the other entry i wrote was much more in depth, told stories & really shared my love of the game.  this is totally half assed, but im sure equally as boring.  

     just promise me that if & when you get a chance to take in a ball game, you go.  not sitting in someones loving room, or in some dimly lit bar, but at a true blue ball park.  not only take in the game, but take in your surroundings.  the smell of freshly cut grass. of peanuts. and the sounds.  not a lot of sounds are  better then the crack of a bat. or the pop a ball makes when it crashes into a perfectly worn in leather mitt.  take score.  ask questions.  talk to the fans who are sitting next to you [i usually dont, but have met some nice folks when i do come out of my shell]  go in a group.  go alone.  just go. its a beautiful game.  

    go padres!