Baseball Feelings | Friday Five #2 | OPENING WEEK TAKEOVER

Before first pitch on this afternoon's home opener, I wanted to share with everyone some of my favorite baseball feelings. This list isn't comprehensive, of course, and I wanted to try to avoid some of the more general feelings - the feeling when the Tigers win, the feeling when our bullpen blows it. Below the cut, you'll find 5 feelings that are, hopefully, understandable and provocative of being at a baseball game (or just watching one on TV) - in no particular order.


1. That feeling when you are confident a play is going to be overturned but, after a painstakingly long review, it's confirmed or upheld. This feeling is one of the actual worst. I have a love-hate relationship with the review system, which I'm sure a lot of people do, because you just never know what the umpires in New York are going to see. Every broadcaster can be saying one thing and then the opposite outcome can occur. This feeling is especially rough when it's the result of a play that can make or break a game.


2. That feeling when a player makes a risky base-running decision and it pays off. This can apply to a variety of different situations. The fastest player on the team can be standing at first and when they take off to steal second, it's like my heart instantly sinks. They are the fastest player we have and, yet, I get incredibly nervous every time they try to steal or every time they try to stretch a single into a double. I think I stop breathing until they are called safe. Getting called out, however, is a totally different feeling that definitely doesn't make this top five list.

3. That feeling when you are at the stadium and a foul ball is hit in your direction. This is a really odd one, I know, but let me explain. I can't go to a lot of games and, when I can, I end up sitting pretty high up because, well, baseball is expensive. I have a fear of heights; it isn't so bad that I can't sit in a baseball stadium and still appreciate the game, but when a foul ball is hit and it heads anywhere near me, it's like I lose my depth perception and everything gets completely wonky for a few seconds. In that moment, that ball is coming straight for my face and I am suddenly terrifyingly aware of just how high up I am. This also can apply to just regular ol' pop-ups. Basically, if the ball is hit in the air and not on the ground, I get this feeling. Even though it is disorienting, it's not an all-around negative thing. After all, you just can't be sad or scared at the ballpark.

4. That feeling when you see the players in the dugout absolutely over-the-moon excited about some aspect of the game (a home run or a great defensive play, for example). This one is, I think, almost unnecessary to explain. I watch the game of baseball because of the joy that it brings me, even through tough losses or pitching meltdowns. The passion in the players is contagious. When I see them fired up in the dugout, I am fired up at home. Some of the best reactions throughout the game occur in the dugout, whether they are positive or negative, and I always say that I wish there was a dugout cam just for moments of extreme emotion. I would definitely love to be a fly on that wall for a game or two.

5. That feeling when your team's starting pitcher throws their first pitch for a strike. No matter how the game might end up, a first pitch strike always gets me pumped up. There is just something about that initial strike call that sets the game up in a way that a ball simply couldn't. The roar of the crowd once the call is made, an opposing batter already down 0-1 in the count... it can't be beat. I think that a first pitch strike sets the tone for the game, even though that sounds ridiculous because literally anything can happen past that first pitch. For that moment, though, your pitcher is incredible and everything is going to be just fine.

What are your favorite baseball feelings? Are there any weird parts of the game that make you feel any particular emotion that other people just don't get? Let me know!

Image Credits: 
#2 Baserunning: Jamie Squire, Getty Images
#4 Dugout Emotion: freep.com