I have always loved baseball. From swinging a tee ball bat and playing Little League to wearing the number 17 in high school, I have found a home in baseball throughout my life. Growing up, I followed players like Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, and I threw a ball around with my friends and brothers whenever I could. All in all, I likely burned through more than a decade’s worth of baseball gear.
I still consider myself a hardcore baseball guy through and through. I go to Major League Baseball and University games with my friends multiple times a year. Last season, I covered the Cavaliers as a beat writer, and I occasionally still write about them as a Sports Editor. But while I first experienced baseball as a player and later as a reporter, I realized my favorite parts about baseball have very little to do with the gameplay itself. Baseball is not just a game — it is a community. Baseball has brought people together across the world, spreading through the United States, the Caribbean, East Asia and Europe. Whether it is die-hard fans cheering on one of the best collegiate baseball programs in the country or spectators who have never stepped foot in a ballpark, anyone can love baseball in their own way.
Baseball is for everyone because, for starters, the sport is simply everywhere. You don’t have to be a history buff to see how baseball has become ingrained in American culture — broadcasts of baseball games aided in the rise of the radio in the early 20th century. Hundreds of MLB players served in both world wars. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the MLB in a crucial victory for civil rights. In the wake of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the opening World Series game at New York’s Yankee Stadium. Even baseball jargon such as “curveball,” “struck out,” and “step up to the plate” has become common language in the United States.
Baseball is also an increasingly global sport, headlined by the MLB’s World Tour, which includes the recent London Series, featuring the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, and the Seoul Series, featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The reigning MLB American League MVP, Shohei Ohtani, hails from Japan and played there professionally before signing contracts with the Los Angeles Angels and now the Dodgers. With a growing global presence, baseball is thriving.
But you don’t need to know baseball’s history or its big names to feel familiar with the sport. You don’t even need to attend a major league or a minor league game. Baseball can be found anywhere — I found it in my hometown as well as right here at the University.
When I was not covering the team in the press box, I went to home games at the gorgeous Ted Davenport Field at Disharoon Park, a 5,919-seat venue and the third-largest capacity stadium among ACC schools. I was one of the 154,507 patrons who enjoyed Virginia baseball games over the course of the 2023 season. I’ll admit, an attractive selling point of sitting in the Dish is, of course, seeing the Cavaliers win — which they did 81 percent of the time at home this season — but the full baseball experience came from the joy of the vast crowd.
I have stood in a cavernous sea of orange and blue bursting with enthusiasm. I have spent hours in the Dish with my high school friends, my little and my fellow staffers from The Cavalier Daily. I have seen droves of students, alumni and other folks traveling from more than three hours away pour into the stadium to catch a Virginia game.
Whether or not you are an avid sports fan, you become part of the Cavaliers’ fanbase when you catch foul balls, sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch or clap along to “Sleeping on the Blacktop,” the walkup song of junior utility player Ethan Anderson. These Cavalier traditions welcome anyone to find community in the ballpark.
And who can resist getting a hot dog for less than five dollars? If the crowd’s energy isn’t enough, there are creative promotions left and right at University games — most notably, if a Cavalier hits a home run in the fifth inning, everyone receives a free small coffee from Grit Coffee. Somehow, I have only seen this happen once, but maybe you will have better luck next season. And, as if all of that is not enough, Friday late afternoon games often feature student promotions, such as giving away free shirts or a special occasion when all students received a free $30 concessions voucher May 1, which is completely awesome.
Virginia is now playing in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., so Disharoon Park is done for the season, but with 30 major league teams and 206 minor league teams — plus hundreds of prep leagues and amateur leagues — the odds are pretty solid that you can find baseball somewhere near you wherever you are this summer. Folks staying in Charlottesville can look no further than the Charlottesville Tom Sox, a collegiate summer league team that features elite NCAA talent and plays its home games at Charlottesville High School.
Nothing beats a fun minor league game either. Several minor league teams host special events in which they transform their team’s persona. For example, on occasion, the Somerset Patriots go by the name “Jersey Diners” and deck out in diner-themed gear. In two games back in April, the Wichita Wind Surge went by the name “Chili Buns” — not something you want on your uniform pants.
Minor league games are also filled with crazy promotions, because why not? One promising event is the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ heinous concoction known as the “hot dog-scented candle giveaway,” which is scheduled to occur on National Hot Dog Day July 10. If your friends start smelling like a roadside grill around mid-July — don’t question it.
Of course, if you live near a major league ballpark, a trip to see an MLB game is absolutely worth it. The Washington Nationals have a postgame summer concert series featuring Flo Rida, Carly Rae Jepsen and others, and their Tuesday home game tickets start at just $9 — incredibly affordable compared to tickets to other professional sports games, which often sell for several times as much. I have already gone to three Tuesday games this year — bringing along friends who have never been to a baseball game — and will probably go to several more times in the near future.
With over a century and a half of history and culture — and giveaways, music and amusing traditions to boot — baseball can be enjoyed by anybody. Go corral some friends, make your way to a ballpark and experience America’s pastime just as millions do every year. You have read this far. You might as well go catch a ballgame this summer.
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