Baseball During the Pandemic

I’m really passionate about baseball. I play it, I watch it, I follow it very closely. A normal spring for me includes going on vacation somewhere warm during March Break and getting into shape for upcoming tryouts. I’ll preserve my equipment throughout the offseason, I’ll work on my form, and I’ll try to simulate a competitive environment. During the holidays, I’ll ask for a new glove or bag of balls as a gift (rather than video games, sneakers, or other more popular items), and, come the break, I’ll stuff my suitcase with these things, taking up the precious room swim trunks could fill. For me, spring doesn’t start when the trees bud new leaves, but when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Once the season starts, I’ll play a lot of catch and batting practice to continue improving. I’ll sacrifice time I could spend playing a video game or binging a show just to improve my form. When I’m not practicing, I’m playing in a game with my team. Almost as soon as it starts, the season will be over, and I’ll have to wait for what feels like an eternity to get back onto a field. However, due to the pandemic, I haven’t been able to play for a team for the past two seasons, and possibly a third if this situation continues into the spring. For someone like me, this is light years from the norm.

Even without that much equipment, baseball’s one of the most accommodating sports to play during a pandemic. All you really need is an empty field and someone to play with. You’re almost always distanced from other players and usually fields are empty.

And even if you can’t locate a proper diamond, if schools are closed, you can always find a nice, wide, grassy space to play in. Still, even with all these positives, the last two years have greatly altered the plans of Toronto youth baseball players like me.

The pandemic has made me play a lot more differently than I normally would have. This whole time, I haven’t been able to access any sort of coaches or instruction, let alone actually playing on a team. I’ve had to play catch with my dad, who’s encouraging and supportive, but far from a real coach with tips and drills that I can take advantage of. As a result, I’ve missed out on learning and developing different skills only coaches can provide, like sliding. I’ve had to continue using the small 30-inch bat I got for my tenth birthday, because Canadian Tire never has a big enough selection (probably another consequence of the pandemic). A year ago, we ordered some balls from Amazon but we busted them up pretty quickly. By now, it’s just a race against time to get new, properly-sized equipment before the spring, in the hopes that I’ll actually be prepared for tryouts. Thankfully, last summer, when restrictions were lifted, my family visited relatives in New York and we were able to buy new gloves, as there’s a much richer selection there.

Besides the actual act of playing baseball, there are other things I’ve missed due to the pandemic. Foremost among them is the team bonding and camaraderie that I’d say is more present in baseball than any other sport because of all the downtime and breaks between action. There’s also the opportunity to play with an umpire and gain a better understanding of different rules.

Even so, it hasn’t been the worst. The pandemic has meant that usually crowded baseball fields have been empty, allowing me to spend a lot of time outside. I’ve been able to spend more time at bat than if I were on an actual team. Still though, I haven’t been able to play any games. The closest I’ve come was early on, in summer 2020, when my dad and I would simulate a game by pretending to hit like different people and keep a scorecard with all the results. Baseball isn’t a one-on-one game.

These are prime years for many young baseball players like me. They represent one of the countless things the pandemic has put on the injured list. Hopefully that’ll change this spring and I’ll be able to play a full season with new equipment, a real coach, and an actual team. Only time will tell.