on opening day baseball

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well, i am writing this post on opening day of baseball season 2025, having joined the lookout landing minecraft server last night, and i thought of a lot of things to put in this blog post but you know, maybe i wont go full essay on everyone!

but god, i love baseball. holy shit.

in a little over two months, it will be the third anniversary of the cultural event of blaseball ending. blaseball really changed my life for the better, in so many ways, but chief among them was blaseball leading me to jon bois. jon bois lead me to the documentary of the seattle mariners from SBnation. that video lead me to start following my home team for the first time in my life, and it gave me a new scheduling and special interest that i couldve never anticipated: baseball.

blaseball was so special to me. sneaking onto my phone at my job to place little bets on my fictional teams. making player lore with my husband. without blaseball, i wouldve never met the quilava that i consider basically my sister, as well as so many lovely friends (hey, if youre all reading this from the tweex server or other discord servers, 💙). and you know what else helped me meet these people? baseball!

following the mariners has given me a lot - social gatherings regularly (attending live games turns out to be fantastic for helping my depression!), bonding in a similar way as blaseball did over silly things the team does and nicknames for the players, a consistency to my life that helps me cope with a lot of things (i had to add watching/listening to baseball games to my safety plan this year, as one of the main coping strategies that help me...) - i can almost always count on flicking on the streamcast or radio to listen to some baseball when i'm at rock bottom now.

baseball gives me an odd sense of camaradere that has bloomed into finally understanding how to connect with my community. i struggle to talk to people, honestly, if that doesnt come across in my blog - but weirdly, interacting so much with the mariners fanbase (shoutout to the lookout landing minecraft server, already) has given me the tools to interact with other parts of my local community. hanging out at bus stops chatting after the game, excitedly talking with older folks and kids on the link rail back, trading tips on walking and accessibility with folks on the bus to the game and over discord with other folks i know... it's so nice. it's so odd! it's like stardew valley or story of seasons emotion to me but in real life. i can just.... talk to people, and they're excited to talk to me, and in that magical moment you can practically see the little friendship point hearts above everyones heads.

i love baseball. baseball has helped me immensely since i started following it. i have a strained, to put it nicely, relationship with my parents; anyone who knows me well knows how complicated and messy it is, and i think a lot of people would agree i would be within my right to strike them out of my life - but oddly enough, baseball has helped me connect with one of them. i don't think baseball can fix the relationship i have with my dad, but it sure seems to be mending it somewhat - and you know what? that's really all childhood me ever wanted. its something. it still means a lot to me.

the delight i feel watching players run the bases, steal bases, when we get a homer... it's crazy. it's so hard to put into words. it's so magical! i really have never felt anything like this before and the gods willing i hope i will keep feeling like this for a very, very long time.

i love baseball. i think everyone should watch a baseball game at least once. i owe baseball so much, possibly including my life honestly. happy opening day, everybody. here's to another odd, probably uneventful, but never boring mariners season. i hope i'll get to see some of you at a game this year.

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