life from the perspective of a fan

Today we went to PNC Park for the buccos game and I thought of something. I thought of how as a baseball fan gets older, the realities of the world can be seen in whether or not he has his glove.

Every little kid who goes to a baseball game takes his or her glove with them. At such a young age it isn't crossing their mind that chances are slim they get a ball. They have such hope. Hope truly is a beautiful thing. Little kids could care less whether or not their team wins, their eyes are set on getting a ball. Such a trivial thing in the eyes of elders, but at 6 or 7 years old getting a hold of a baseball is all that matters.

Around 12 or 13 bringing your glove becomes "uncool" and the glove stays at home. You see at 12 or 13 you just want to be cool. You don't care about getting a baseball, you want your friends to think you look good and you want to impress people. Your ideals have shifted from a little white ball to the attention of your peers.

Somewhere in the late teens the glove is still at home. Now you're to the point where not only is it not cool to bring your glove, but you've accepted the fact that a ball most likely won't be coming to you. (You tell yourself that even if it does come you're skilled enough to bare hand it. That'll show everyone how cool you are.) At 18 most boys are more worried about bringing a girl to a game than their glove. Hope of catching a ball has been replaced with hopes of other sorts. Hope of love, hope of something, maybe just a kiss.

The next stage doesn't come for some time after. A time where you're taking your kids to their first ballgame and you make sure they have their gloves. You can see the hope glinting in their eyes of getting a ball. You'll do anything you can to get them one. You've completely given up on your dreams of getting a ball and replaced them with your son or daughter's dreams. Putting someone else's dreams in front of yours, with the right intentions, is the most selfless thing a person can do.

The beautiful thing about life is the innocence that returns in late adulthood. There is something peaceful about an old man at a baseball game. There is something inspiring about seeing a baseball glove on the hand of an old man at the game. It shows that after all those years where other wants and needs took over, deep down, there is still a yearning to catch a ball. It's something innate in some fans.

It's hope in the greatest sense. 


It's innocence at it's finest. 


It's America's pastime helping show the growth of us as individuals. 


It's wants and needs changing over time. 


It's never letting go of your childhood dreams. 

NP: Stolen- Dashboard Confessional