Today is the 146th anniversary of the first National League baseball game.

The game was played on April 22, 1876 in Philadelphia and the Red Stockings of Boston beat the Athletics by a score of 6-5.

This has me thinking of baseball tonight.

I have loved baseball since I was little. Here I am with my first uniform when I first played in Ottumwa, Iowa. Our team name was the Royals.

To be honest, I was really not very good at playing baseball. This was my regular position. I sat on the bench most of the time.

I also played baseball during the summer once we moved to Ashland, Kansas but again saw very little playing time.

But that did not make me lose my love of baseball.

I also played a lot of softball at summer Bible camps, where I did play a bit better. It was much easier to hit and catch that big ball that moved much slower.

Way back in the late 80’s I also worked for the Omaha Royals helping run part of the scoreboard. One of my friends was the regular operator, but I filled in for him when he was out of town and helped him for quite a few more games. However, it was just for one season before I moved away.

I have a few favorite teams. The team of my heart is the Kansas City Royals, but living here in California I am also an Oakland A’s fan. Of course, they used to play in Kansas City so there is a bit of a connection.

I have many memories of listening to Kansas City Royals baseball games while driving across Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska while working as a field service engineer.

I will also be a San Diego Padres fan once baseball starts up again as I know Jayce Tingler who is their new Manager this year. I am hoping that he will have a good first year as a manager. Unfortunately it comes at a difficult time.

I am missing baseball, but at least I can turn on a classic game on TV and listen to the sounds of baseball.

Steven