Prompt 6

     Everytime I see children or adults playing baseball, it takes me back to when I played baseball.  Although, it is not just seeing the people play that brings me back, it is all of the different things which I associate with baseball that are present while watching or playing a game.  Including the fresh cut grass, the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on the barbecque, the blinding light and heat from the large lights used to light the field, and the freshly painted bases.  All of these things make my experience of watching or playing baseball so much better.  It could be the highest level of competition (MLB), or it could be a tee-ball game, it does not matter, it still takes me back to when I played baseball.  The level of competition does not matter to me because I played at levels of very low competition (tee-ball), all the way up to levels of high competition (varsity high school baseball).  Depending on the age of the people playing, it brings me back to different times when I played baseball.  If I see younger kids playing it brings me back to the days that I played tee-ball or coach pitch.  But, when I see a major league game or a college game it takes me back to the days that I played high school baseball.  Also, the score of game can affect the type of experience I have while watching a game.  If the game is close, it takes me back to a game that I was playing in that I was very close, or if the game was a blowout, it takes me back to a game that I was playing during which my team was either winning by a lot or losing by a lot.  But, no matter what baseball game I watch, it brings back my love of baseball.

     For many people who have played baseball for as long as I have and as much as I have, watching a baseball game will them sick.  My friend who I played high school baseball with could not watch any baseball game on television or in person.  The reason, he told me was that "his life was already all about baseball, and he didn't need to watch any more of it."  This is very different to my own feeling about watching baseball games.  When I watch a game it brings back my love for baseball, but when he watches baseball it brings him back to countless hours of gruelling practices.  Also, he does not get the same satisfaction as I do from the fresh cut grass, the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on the barbecque, and the freshly painted bases.  When he smells fresh cut grass, he thinks about mowing his lawn.  When he smells hamburgers and hot dogs cooking on the barbecque he simply thinks about eating, and when he smells something which is freshly painted he thinks about painting his room.  All of these things bring me back to playing baseball, but for him when he smells these things, he does not think for one moment about the game of baseball.