Amateur Baseball in Tampa
When I was a boy my dream was to play for the New York Yankees. I would imagine myself hitting the game winning shot in the bottom of the ninth winning the World Series with the ticker tape parade to top it off. Unfortunately that dream never came true. So the next best thing is to play in mens leagues. Many of these leagues are filled with players who played in high school, college, and even the pros. These guys continue to play because of their love of the game. They don’t do it for money or fame. They just go out there to play. This is baseball in its purest form. It’s really a beautiful thing. These leagues don’t really get much attention or are in the radar screen of many fans. In the league I’m in, we always have an extremely difficult time trying to find fields to practice on. The few good fields are either off-limits or you have to pay a hefty fee to use them. Teams and leagues are very protective of their fields. They don’t want anyone else to use them because good fields are just hard to find. This is surprising in such a baseball state like Florida. Amateur mens leagues are filled with talented players many of whom have aspirations to play in college or higher levels of play. That’s why it’s not unusual for players from these leagues to get drafted to the bigs. Despite all the talent, these leagues really aren’t taken very seriously by their respective cities. In way it feels like were frowned upon by the community. No one seems to care. This is probably why finding fields to practice on and play games is so difficult. Amateur leagues are a source of hidden talent that baseball fans should look at more closely. We may not be professionals. But some of these games are just as exciting as some in the major league level. If you want more information, go online and search for local amateur leagues that post scheduled games on their site. I hope to see you at the field.
