Baseball Missionary

Most of my dedicated readers, or reader on most occassions, know that I live in Norway and moonlight as an employee of the Norwegian Softball and Baseball Federation. Given my background as a baseball junkie, this is the last place I would have ever imagined myself. I am essentially, trying to bring baseball to a land where people mistake baseball for basketball.

The funny thing about working in an environment where people know absolutely nothing about the game is that you see its true nature come to life. To see a young kid hit a ball for the first time and smile with satisfaction, or to see the same kid rounding 2nd base heading to 3rd with eyes full of indecision and eagerness, and even to see the fear that comes with having a ball be thrown to you, all of these things only affirm what it is I love about baseball.

In the states baseball is generally treated as an American thing. In Europe it carries the same stigma. Often people here only catch a glimpse of it and don't fully understand it. They don't get to follow a team for a whole season and witness the joy of playing catch with their fathers. 8 years ago I would have thought it was a lost cause to try and pass the game on here. But the reality is the game is, at its core, fun. I'll gladly spend my time passing on fun to people.