MLB: Appreciating the Visual Beauty of The Game Of Baseball

With MLB opening day today, it seems an appropriate time to review the visual beauty of the game we all love. Do we all understand how lucky we are to be watching MLB baseball today?

The opening day for MLB is April 2nd, and this writer has had the opportunity to reflect on exactly the beauty that will re-enter life again when the first pitch is thrown in an MLB game on the season.

June 10th of 2015, I lost my grandfather. He was a farmer, a hard worker throughout his life who really didn’t share a ton of interests with me, except one – baseball.

My grandpa was a significant baseball fan, and he was one of two major influences that I count in my life for my passion for the game from an early age. I remember many times riding in the pickup with Grandpa while moving cattle and listening to a Twins game on the radio while we did so.

As my passion for the game grew, my grandfather would even encourage my fandom of the Atlanta Braves, even though it wasn’t his favorite (or even second-favorite) MLB team, because he enjoyed talking the game so much.

My grandfather, however, shared another thing with me. He lost vision in his later years due to glaucoma. After multiple surgeries in my life on my eyes, I’ve been tasked with watching my eye pressures very closely.

I remember how my grandpa lamented those days after his vision deteriorated and he was no longer able to watch the game he loved. Sure, he could listen to the game, and he could turn on the television broadcast and listen to the announcers, but it wasn’t the same as being able to watch the game he loved.

He shared this frustration with me on more than one occasion, expressing that he missed watching certain players and certain types of plays.

This last Wednesday, I finally had to succumb to my genetics from both sides (with it running on both sides of the family), and I had a procedure to attempt to correct my own glaucoma.

I have been watching and treating my eyes carefully my entire life due to seeing what my grandfather went through, but as I prepared for what was my 15th procedure on my eyes (if you count each work on each eye individually, and they were often different things occurring, so I do – but that’s a whole other discussion), I reflected on what my grandfather lost, and what I would have missed most.

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’ve included YouTube videos of some of those things that came to mind as I pondered what about the game I would miss the most – incredible defense (and specifically, Andrelton Simmons!), impressive movement on pitches, picturesque swings.

Some of you read the work I do on this site reviewing minor league players, and obviously I rely heavily on my eyes to study intricacies in each player to see what little nuances will allow one pitcher to succeed while the next does not. Watching the game is certainly something I do in an evaluation mode, but I still have many, many days where I pop on a game – whether it be MLB, minor league, or college, and I watch to enjoy the game.

So, as the MLB season begins today, I encourage you to take the time to really reflect on the visual beauty and poetry of the game we all enjoy. To ponder losing it is something that was truly a sobering thought to me.

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My final thought as the season opens comes back to my grandfather. He passed the morning that I was to leave with my wife on our honeymoon, a baseball bus trip that had us seeing plenty of the country along with 10 games in 10 stadiums.

When I talked with my grandpa in the last moments when he was still able to talk, I discussed the honeymoon and whether I should go or not as it became clear that I could end up missing my grandfather’s funeral while on my honeymoon. While every member of my family insisted that I should go, when he told me how excited he was for me to experience all the baseball I was going to see, I had my decision made.

There were many incredible moments along that trip along with some impressive games that I could write an entire article about. However, I had the opportunity to be at an event that had never before happened in the history of baseball – A perfect game with two outs in the ninth, lost on a HBP that still was able to remain a no-hitter.

Next: Where Top 25 Prospects Will Open Season

I’ll finish with video from that game. Happy Opening Day!