San Diego Padres Game

Baseball… Is there a game more American than baseball? Growing up in Czechoslovakia, a small country in the middle of Europe, I only knew about baseball from movies and literature. Baseball was present in most American movies. In crime stories, murders happened with a baseball bat and an adolescent character in one of Philip Roth’s controversial novels used a baseball glove in a very unconventional way. The country of my birth is known worldwide for soccer and hockey, but baseball? There has never been much mention of baseball in Slovakia.

That’s why I wanted a firsthand experience of a baseball game ever since I moved to North America; I wanted to feel the atmosphere at precisely this sport event to fully get in touch with the North-American culture. Interestingly, when I lived in downtown Toronto, I was never too far from Rogers Center, the home of Toronto Blue Jays. For years, I saw the magnificent stadium from my balcony every day and never went to see a game. I guess there is a right time and place for everything.

It took for me to change countries and get married to finally experience my first baseball game. And it wasn’t the Toronto Blue Jays; it was a San Diego Padres game that my husband invited me to watch. It was a beautifully warm day (my kind of weather), and there I was, sitting in the top row, watching the game and sipping cold beer with James. I loved it! Padres played against the Cincinnati Reds. I must admit, the fact that they didn’t win the game didn’t bother me at all. If I have to be honest, I’ll tell you that following the players was not all I was there for. I was there for the ambience; for the crowds, for the beer in a plastic cup, I was there to spend a great Saturday afternoon with my husband; I was there to get that “true American feeling”.