College Admissions Essay: Playing Baseball

The problem I had was that there was no place to practice. The batting cage was a chest high jungle of weeds imprisoned by chain link fence. The school saw no point in restoring it, and everyone clearly understood the message that baseball and its players just weren’t worth the effort. Everyone, that is, except for me and a handful of my teammates. We would not let them determine our worth.

Ever since I could remember, I have always had a great interest and love for the game of baseball. As a kid, I would spend countless hours in the backyard with my grandfather, or even by myself, tossing, hitting and fielding a baseball. When I wasn't in the yard pretending to be Nomar Garciaparra I would watch the Boston Red Sox games on TV with my Grandfather.  Even in my early adolescence, as impatient as most are, I had the patience to sit there and watch the Sox.With my eyes glued to the screen with a look of anticipation fixed on my face ready to mimic my grandfather with the excitement of a home run hit or the frustration of Mo-Vaughn striking out. Call me crazy, but I was addicted, even as a young boy, to Boston Red Sox baseball.

Throughout my life I have always said “I will be a Major League Baseball player.” I do not just say this, but I put in work every day to get better. Day-to-day I pray to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ to help me get there someday. Throughout high school I have been attending many college showcases to get my name out there, and get a shot to show scouts what I can do. A showcase consists of hitting, fielding, running, and scrimmages with those that also attended. Even though I get piled with school and a job, I still manage to have time doing what I love. Not only baseball but the gym to get stronger on

I grew up in a family of baseball players. My grandpa was the first to really get into then it passed on from my dad to me. Growing up I was always practicing or playing baseball. My father and grandfather taught me the basics and it was almost a new way of socialization. Having to learn baseball was like learning a new language. Playing baseball when I was young started as just fun. Starting at the age of 5 I never did much playing. I more so stood in the field and kicked dirt around.

The life of a young baseball player is a very enjoyable one. Baseball has always been my favorite sport, it requires the highest amount of concentration and mental strength. Physical strength is also required to be able to hit and throw the ball; these are all skills required that apparently my freshman year of highschool I did not posses. I had always believed that I had the necessary skills to play baseball and play it well. However, tryouts my freshman year proved me wrong.

It wasn’t that long ago when I became in love with the game of baseball. I still remember the day that my neighbor met me outside in the front yard just as we always did. It has been approximately two years ever since that Friday after school he asked me if I want to go to a Angel’s baseball game. I decided to go nothing better to do that day, when I got there it was such a rush seeing all the people that came to watch a baseball game. I followed my neighbor down the line, eagerly I waited to try to obtain a baseball players autograph. My friend gave me a baseball to try to get autographed, and later that day I luckily got my first baseball players autograph. His name was Dino Ebel the bench coach for the Angels,

I have been playing baseball on and off sense I was 7 up until my junior year of high school and I enjoy attainting and watching Baseball games has a hobby.

The game of baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday, in 1839- 177 years ago from today. Baseball has been, and is still today, known as America’s favorite pastime; additionally, due to its extensive history and partaking it monumental events, it can as well serve as a great topic to use in a story or poem. Poet Dale Ritterbusch, uses the game of baseball along with metaphors in his poem as a vehicle to write about a more substantial subject in poetry, the Vietnam War. His poem, “Behind the Plate”, can be simply over-looked to one as just a poem about an overweight catcher; nonetheless, when closely examined, it has a deeper meaning. Authors Michael Cocchiarale and Scott Emmert, both agree with the statement that baseball is a great outlet for further analysis of a more important subject: “Writers have seen sports, particularly baseball, as a useful vehicle for cultural and epistemological analysis” (Cocchiarale).

​I’ve been playing baseball since I let out my first cries. For me baseball is a battleground. The side that is better prepared and executes well is the one who usually wins. Just like how you don’t go out to war without any training, the same goes for baseball you don’t go and just play baseball. Practice in general is important for anything that you do; it allows you to experience a situation during a time where it’s not important. I can’t recall a time where I didn’t practice and performed during a game. Baseball has taught me that if I want to succeed you have to prepare yourself. It doesn’t just happen. In terms of school, imagine going to take an exam without sort of studying you won’t do so well. Apart from practice, which prepares you physically, if you’re not mentally right, you won’t do so well.

The long series of events started when I was seven years old and my parents signed me up for Bobby Sox softball. I soon grew to love the sport and came back to the organization every year until I turned ten. I stopped playing for the league and tried out for a local travel ball team and made it. I soon had a career out of playing travel ball, it was my whole life. I had been on many teams and created many memories. As I got older, I didn’t enjoy playing softball as much as I did before. I was scared to tell this my dad this because he had high hopes that I would play in college. When I told my dad that I wanted to quit softball, I learned that I need to do what makes me happy even if it disappoints people.

Baseball... America’s pastime, many people dream of playing baseball in America and few make it to the majors. The book “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud followed the story of Roy Hobbs, a man who just wanted to play baseball. That was Roy Hobbs’ dream, to be the greatest ball player ever. Roy was drafted into baseball and started on the New York Knights. He played his first year and was the greatest ball player in his league, but his choices, jealousy, cockiness, and greed impacted his career. Everybody looked up to and loved Roy because he saved the New York Knights and made them a first place team after years of disappointment. The fame was unreal and he could not believe how his life is going. He started reading the media more often and

It is a game of inches played nearly everywhere by every age. From backyards to little league parks and professional stadiums, by tee-ball playing kindergartners to old-timer leagues, baseball is a game that is considered America’s pastime for a good reason. Baseball, and simply sports in general, help teach many important life lessons such as hard work, sportsmanship and dedication. These qualities, along with many other things, are necessary for success in today’s world. The sport of baseball is very popular in other countries as well, and for many of the youth in these countries, it represents a way out. A way out from the poverty and crime and a way to a better life here in America. Out of all of the opportunities afforded to me

I told my coach at the time that I wanted to try pitching. As a result, I started practicing all the time to become a good pitcher. To be honest, I never got the hang of it but i still wanted to pitch in a game. One game our pitcher was out

In 9th grade I joined softball as part of the school team. It was the first year I would be playing that sport, yet I immediately got placed to play Varsity as a 1st basemen. That whole season I played in the same position, until 10th grade. It was just a few weeks before our first official game, when our indicated and only pitcher became ineligible to play! Our games wouldn’t even begin without a pitcher, so I decided to make the most nerve wracking decision and step up. Practicing for such a little time made it worse, yet this was a whole team that relied on a pitcher. The first game finally came and the game didn’t go too well. I realized then that it would take more than physical practice to improve my pitching, because part of it was acquiring

From the time I was able to walk I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I always fantasized it being game seven of the world series, with my team down three runs, the bases loaded with two outs, and I was up to bat. Of course every single time I fantasized about this, which was a lot I might add, I knocked a 400 foot home run in the left field bleachers to win the world series. I played in numerous amounts of wiffle ball games with my brother, sister, and my dad in backyard even when I was only two years old and would run the bases backwards. By the way, my family is super competitive, so there were some intense games in my backyard. Baseball has been my love since day one. The word “ball” was even my first word. I have played in probably a billion baseball games in my life and I have not regretted one second of it. I have had an amazing career playing and I am truly blessed for the ability I have been given, but I know I will never actually be able to