Baseball, or any other kind of ball or sport, is a fun way to spend time with your people. Baseball is particularly good because there is almost nothing happening out there in the field, leaving a lot of time for talking, concessions and hanging out in general.

Eldest daughter’s husband was a baseball player and one of the first things I got to do with their family was go to a baseball game. There’s something down home and All American about these events. The stadiums are usually beautiful, clean, spacious and well lit at night. It’s usually summer when games are played so the weather is good. And there are often fireworks.

But while we are on the subject of sports, I have to say that the seasons when my girls played sports were some of the best times of our lives. Sure, it’s a little unnerving when you’re worried about them hurting themselves physically or being disappointed, but those times in the car riding back and forth are so good for relationship building. Watching young adults learn teamwork, discipline, and awesome physical skills is so satisfying, and should they happen to be on a winning team, all the better.

You’ve heard of soccer moms, but how about golf moms? Yes, there are such people. They get to do a lot of walking, which I’m always in favor of. I liked it when E played golf because the uniforms were more like regular clothes and didn’t usually get sweaty. She was a good golfer. We never did figure out what happened to that set of titanium clubs she had.

I hear that relationship building is even better if you can coach a sports team instead of sitting on the sidelines watching. My brother has always taken opportunities like that and as a result he knows families and their kids all over town. High school, middle school and even grade and pre-school kids are on sports teams and they are often looking for adult volunteers.

Remember the song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”? It’s proof of what I’m saying here – memories will be made and you’ll have a great time!