I fell in love with basketball long ago. I played non stop for years but it wasn’t my first love.  That distinction belongs to baseball.  In the six years I played competitive baseball there were many moments I will never forget but one in particular rises above the rest.

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL

It was my second season and I wasn’t old enough to play hardball yet so it was softball for me.  I was basically an infielder my whole ‘career’ but for some reason, this was the only season I was a catcher.  Our team completely dominated that year and made it to the championship game.

So there I was at the end of the summer, in the final inning with 2 out.  We were only up by one or two runs so the pressure was on.  The batter took his final swing and popped it up directly above my head.  I had to hustle but I caught that ball and we won the championship.  There’s nothing like making the final play to win a title, even if it was only little league softball.

Strangely enough, another memory I have from that day was a meteor shower that everyone was talking about.  Back then, I was a little naive and I remember a few people messing with me causing me to ‘worry’ about one of the meteors crashing down to earth.

“The chances are slim but it could happen” They told me.

I stayed up that night and watched the only meteor shower I’ve ever seen.  I haven’t witnessed one since.

It was an amazing day.

BASEBALL MOVIES

It wasn’t long after that when I became obsessed with movies as well and films like The Sandlot captured my imagination.  I ran a bit of a poll on my Facebook account last week and asked people what their favorite baseball movie moment was.

I started it off with one of my favorite moments: Kevin Costner’s character playing catch with his father in Field of Dreams.  Great moment.  Many people mentioned their personal favorites like ‘The Pickle with Hercules’, ‘There’s no crying in baseball’, a whole bunch of awesome Bull Durham references and more…

It was so easy for people to select their favorite moment.  Like it was instinct.  Ask a question like ‘What is your favorite baseball movie moment?’ and people just know.  It’s a part of them.  People love baseball movies.  I love baseball movies!

LINK: Check out ESPN’s favorite baseball moments here.

The more I thought about it, the more I kept going back to my favorite little league moment and how much fun I had.  And so…

The Sandlot Wins For Me

Field of Dreams is a close second but I knew my favorite baseball moment would come from The Sandlot the second I started writing this post.

This classic is permanently etched in my mind but this isn’t about picking my favorite baseball movie.  It’s about my favorite baseball movie moment. So I decided to go with ‘The Omen’ when Benny crushes the ball with such force it literally rips the ball apart.

I chose that particular moment above all the hilarious and quotable lines because it’s all about baseball.  It’s about playing the game and being a part of something amazing.

That’s what baseball means to me.  Even if the Blue Jays haven’t won for a million years…

What’s your favorite baseball movie moment?