I like baseball
Which is funny, because up until a few months ago I couldn't have cared less for it.
I think what started it was YouTube recommendations. I don't ever log into YouTube, so I'm always stuck with the garbage they recommend on default. But sometimes they'll recommend me something good.
Somehow, I was recommended a baseball fight video. I watched it and thought it was hilarious. Baseball fights are rarely ever "fights" or "brawls." Most of the time, it's just a mass of writhing bodies pushing and shoving, giving off major "hold me back, bro" energy. Players will square up but never actually throw a punch. And then the bullpen (the backup catchers and extra pitchers warming up and other staff members) will come racing across the dugout, too. By the time they make it, the "fight" would have already died down. So they're just standing around awkwardly. It's really funny, for some reason.
Anyhow, I then got recommended other videos. Things like players getting hit by pitches, players hitting home runs, players hitting grand slams (where all the bases are loaded and a home run is hit), and so on.
Eventually, I noticed this one guy was in a lot of them: Shohei Ohtani. This guy is everywhere now. A unicorn in the baseball world. Someone who is a good pitcher and hitter. This, as I understand it, is quite rare at the major league level. Baseball is a hard sport where you really have to live and breath it as a player. Everyone around you is so talented so you kind of have to keep up.
Ohtani's a really fun player to watch.
Eventually, I started to follow some teams (Let's go Mets!) and picked up a few favorite players here and there. I'm learning all about different pitches and different plays. I'm watching highlight reels. I'm watching old baseball games or have them on in the background.
And at some point, I go "Wait. Am I a baseball fan now?" And I thought that was pretty funny, because I didn't care for it. Apart from skateboarding, I didn't care for any sport, really. But now I'm visiting the baseball subreddit or reading baseball news.
I don't know why baseball caught my attention, but I'm glad it did. It's such an interesting sport to me. I'm especially interested in the various types of pitches. I'm still a beginner when it comes to this stuff, however. I really only have a surface knowledge.
Anyway, just thinking about baseball because today (July 30, 2024) was the deadline for teams to make player trades. A bunch of interesting stuff happened today in the baseball world.