Sorry folks but another baseball picture is necessary since football is officially over.  Baseball season is 57 days away and I cannot wait, nothing beats being at a baseball game, it is one of the most surreal moments for me.  For three to four hours all my worries and problems go away as I let the ambience surround me, I immerse myself in the moment.  I watch the game differently because being a part of the crowd makes me a part of the game and this is close as I am going to get to it so I soak up everything.  I watch the ball leave the pitcher’s hand and there is nothing like actually hearing a ball hit a bat or a glove.  For the time I am in the stadium I and 40,000 other people are all one happy community, race, religion, money or whatever problems plague us in the real world are gone as we watch the great game of baseball enfold.  Everytime I am at a game I wish that the whole world could be so together and united, my ideal world would be one huge baseball stadium with everyone watching.  It would be a warm late spring and the popcorn, hot dogs and beer would be free as everyone just sat back and enjoyed a worry free life.  I have been to 15 games which is not enough by a long shot, but everyone of them have been memorable, no two games are ever the same.  I have seen some of the greats play, Greg Maddux, Kirby Puckett, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Roberto Alomar, those are just a few of the legends of the game that I have had the pleasure to watch.  I have the baseball bug right now and I feel more connected to the game this year more than ever because I follow most of my favorite players on Twitter so getting to hear from them all year long makes them seem more human.  They have achieved something that most people only dream about and I have no problems following the ones who work hard and respect the game.  Detractors say that the game is too slow, but if those same people knew just how much strategy goes into the game they might think differently, and since there is no time limit the game is never really over until someone wins the game there are no ties in baseball, a clear victor emerges every game even if it takes 30 innings to do it.  That would be a great experience, a 30 inning game! Talk about getting your monies worth! I had the pleasure of an 11 inning game once and was estatic to get 2 extra innings of game.  Sure today the game is tainted with cheaters using steroids and other drugs to get an advantage and of course I despise people who disrespect the game like that but since baseball was invented players and coaches have always found ways to cheat or enhance their advantage.  The great Babe himself was a womanizing drunk, and Ty Cobb used to file his spikes to sharp points so when he slid into the bases he’d hurt the opposing player.  In the late sixties up until the 1980’s bowls of uppers were actually placed on the food tables in the clubhouses, and until the 90’s steroids were not illegal, of course I am not condoning those actions I am just showing that baseball has always dealt with issues.  Read up on the history of the game it is like a soap opera, and baseball has shaped American culture.  One weird fact for you concerning drugs and the game, On June 12, 1970, Oakland Athletics pitcher Doc Ellis threw a no-hitter, while tripping on acid! Throwing a no-hitter in itself is a major accomplishment but to do it on LSD, that is just insane! Anyhow one of my favorite players is yet again engiulfed in a steroid controversy and it is getting harder for me to continue to defend him but that will not stop me from loving the game, baseball is just like life if you can’t respect it you don’t need to be a part of it……………………….PEACE!!!!!!!!!!