My Baseball Story - Kellee

By Kellee
February 6 2003

Was it the Grand Slams? Was it the Triple Plays or the Strikeouts? Was it because of the atmosphere in the ballparks or the allstar ballplayers? Or was it simply that you were born into baseball-loving family? Tell us, in your own words, how did you become interested in the great game of baseball?

"How I Became A Fanatic"

Kellee
from South Carolina, USA
Originally published on February 16th, 2001

Being that I have always lived in Southern California, I have never been shortchanged as far as television coverage of professional sports. When one season would end, another would begin. However, I never really watched any sports except for baseball, and I still do not.

My obession began at a very young age. My father would come home with a new packet of baseball cards, and he would sit and watch the Dodger game with me, then proceed to open the packet, look at the cards, and give me the hologram card and the piece of gum (Which, by the way, was usually next to impossible to chew). That started around age three or four. When I was five, my parents took me to my first Dodger game. Since they were playing the Giants, I had more than enough to say. I may not have understood the rules very well, but I knew enough to understand the rivalry between the teams as well as different situations. My parents tell me that I would even yell comments such as, "Are you blind?", at the umpires. As if that wasn't enough, I was obsessed with Eddie Murray, though I still do not understand why.

That same year was also the year that the Dodgers last went to the World Series, though I do not particularly remember watching it. It was from then on that I could not get enough of the Dodgers, though my obsession faded a little until last year. I would watch games here-and-there, but it was not until last season that I truly made time to watch as many games as possible, even with the absence of Raul Mondesi and Mike Piazza, two players who were formerly some of my favorites, though I have since soured on them. I do not really spend my time memorizing every little stat, but even so, I have earned the nickname, "The Walking Scoreboard"