Where it all began

I remember my pops walking beside me with my bat and glove in hand, the smell of fresh cut grass lingering in the air. It was the first time I ever stepped foot on a baseball diamond. I was only four years old. Before I even knew how to tie my own shoe, I was learning the game of baseball. When I was at home I wasn't watching cartoons like most kids my age. Instead I was glued to the television watching America's past time, baseball. At such a young age, before I could even realize what was happening, I was developing my love for sports for the first time.

As years went by and I became old enough, I began to participate in organized sports for the first time. Being shy as a child, sports became more than just something to occupy time, but as a way to meet and establish relationships with other kids my age. From the early years all through high school, my teammates were always my closest friends.
Throughout the years, as sports became more serious and competitive, I narrowed down the sports I played to the sport I loved. My first love, baseball. Baseball became something that I didn't just want to do for fun, but something I wanted to do for an occupation. That first day I ever stepped foot on a baseball field I can remember my dad telling me, "Only play a sport for the love of the game. If you lose the love for the game, you lose the game entirely". For me that's where it truly all began. The sport of baseball gave me a love I was never going to lose, and plan on never losing.