When you think back to some of your favorite baseball memories, is there one person in particular who comes to mind? Not a player, like we discussed in our last Roundtable, but someone you know personally? Who is that person for you?

Sal

Last time I spoke about which player made me fall in love with baseball (thank you Mike Piazza), but today I want to talk about which person made me fall in love with this great game. I wrote a piece on why I’m grateful for baseball and I spoke about the relationship with my grandfather and our love for baseball. It’s no surprise that when I think of the PERSON who sparked my passion for the sport, it was Pop. I grew up hearing stories about his favorite player (Jackie Robinson) and everything else that came with growing up in Brooklyn as a Dodgers fan. We must have watched thousands of hours of Mets games together either on TV or at the stadiums (Shea and Citi) and although most of it was bad baseball, Pop loved his Mets and we never stopped cheering.

More than just the Mets, Pop was my number one fan, and literally never missed a game of mine. Even after I graduated from school and began playing in men’s leagues, Pop attended every game I had, and my teammates loved having him there, always calling him our unofficial mascot. We lost Pop to cancer in March of 2019, but I still feel him whenever I hear GKR or step onto the diamond. I don’t think my grandpa thought baseball would be the thing that keeps his memory alive, but for me they are synonymous — when I think of baseball I think of Pop, and I’m so lucky that we were able to share it together.

Laney 

Baseball has given me so many things in my life. It’s given me friends, a boyfriend, and a future career. It’s only fitting that the person that gave me life is the one that gave me baseball. If it wasn’t for my mom, I would be not only lost as a person, but lost as a baseball fan. She brought me to my first games, bought me my first jerseys, and showed me how to cry after a tough Mets loss. She showed me that women can love sports and that just because we love the Mets doesn’t mean people can walk all over us. I owe my mom a lot for many things but giving me a love for the game is something I can never truly repay her for.

Matt 

I’m not exactly sure how to answer this question as I’m somehow the only die-hard sports fan in my family. I suppose I’d have to go with my mom and grandpa, who took me to games at Shea and Citi when I was young. To this day, I still make it a point to attend two Mets games a season with my mom.

Mojo

The reason I’m a baseball fan is because of my dad, who is a lifelong Mets and grew up in New York. Growing up in LA, I originally only wanted to be a Dodgers fan, but with my dad putting SNY on the TV every night without me having much choice in the matter, I eventually couldn’t help becoming a Mets fan as well. My dad taught me how to play baseball as well as the history and nuances of the game, and also sparked my love for minor league baseball by taking me to Las Vegas 51s games.

Photo: Josh Holmberg, Las Vegas Review

Jack

The easy answers would be my dad and my high school coaches, who showed me baseball and pitching (respectively), but I don’t think I really came to love baseball the way most people love family, God, etc. until I got to coach other kids at a baseball camp I worked at through high school.

While most coaches I worked with were collegiate-level athletes and handled teens that played travel ball and already had some sense of direction, I was appointed to the youngest age group (think 6-8 year-olds). I didn’t need to worry about hitting fungos or coming face-to-face with the “my dad/coach disagrees” arguments, but I still had to teach about 14-18 small children every week how baseball worked.

My experiences coaching children every day brought back memories from when I was one of those exact children learning to run the bases, how force plays worked, what position I liked the most, and above all else what it felt like when I first found something I enjoyed.

A lot of these kids come in because their parents are scared of keeping them inside all summer, and they’d buy in for more weeks at camp because they all found themselves pursuing that same joy. And knowing – even as someone who didn’t play in organized leagues or really ever got the chance to elevate my game like I’d wanted – that I was giving other kids a reason to get attached to the game was a reward for which I could never thank anyone enough.

Ryan

Of all the roundtables I have participated in with MMO this one is probably the easiest to answer. My Dad is my greatest role model and is the sole reason I developed such a passion for the game of baseball. Growing up my parents turned what would have been the living room of our house into a large playroom, which became our diamond. My Dad would come home from work and we’d play wiffle ball for hours on end.

Later, my Dad would become Coach Rob, as he managed countless little league teams and eventually our travel baseball team from ages 9 through 14. When we weren’t out on the field playing, we were watching the Mets play on TV or talking about them. While my playing career ended some time ago, our joint passion for baseball lives on. There is no one I would rather sit next to and curse out the Mets with than my Dad.

Michelle 

I come from a Mets family. My mother used to cut high school to go to Mets games. My aunt worked for WFAN in the ’80s and helped coordinate Spring Training trips. My dad went to every Mets Opening Day from as far as I can remember. My Greek immigrant grandfather became a Mets fan when the team began. And then there’s my little brother, who was the best Mets fan I will ever know. So when I think of the Mets, I don’t just think of one person, I think of family. I think of those happy memories with those that I have lost. I think of being allowed to stay up late on school nights, to watch the Mets in the playoffs and World Series. I cannot pinpoint one specific person who made me fall in love with the game, but I can pinpoint the feeling, the memories, and the happy times I spent with my family because of them.