I blame Ferris Bueller. Ever since his day off, baseball has always intrigued me. The huge stadiums, the atmosphere, the food vendors and the speed and the pace of the game - the all American dream. Unfortunately my funds wouldn't stretch to going to America to see the New York Yankees or a similar status team, so I had to look nearer home. After a lot of Internet searching and a few red herrings (apparently there used to be a team based in Nottingham but as they hadn't updated their website for several years and didn't reply to my emails, then I guessed that they were no longer playing), I eventually found a team in Rotherham, the Sheffield Bladerunners and today we decided to catch one of their last home games of the season.
Sheffield Bladerunners play in the Northern AAA league and were established circa 1985. We turned up to watch them on their home turf, at the Phoenix Sports & Social Club in Rotherham, expecting to see a little stadium, a few dozen people watching etc. Unfortunately we were at a loss to see where they played when we arrived and only managed to just glimpse a uniform in the far distance beyond the football pitches. There was no stadium, no people watching that weren't involved directly with the teams, but do you know what, it was great. We sat on the grass and watched 2 x 7 - inning games (double headers)and a bunch of individuals that were there for the pure love of the game and not for the financial aspects like so many other sportsmen. Okay so there were no home runs, but it still kept us entertained for the best part of 2 hours.
If I lived a little nearer, then I would definitely go to watch them again and I certainly wouldn't ever turn down the opportunity of watching a bigger game in the States, but for now I'm quite happy I spent a few hours on an otherwise boring Sunday completing another task.
Sheffield Bladerunners play in the Northern AAA league and were established circa 1985. We turned up to watch them on their home turf, at the Phoenix Sports & Social Club in Rotherham, expecting to see a little stadium, a few dozen people watching etc. Unfortunately we were at a loss to see where they played when we arrived and only managed to just glimpse a uniform in the far distance beyond the football pitches. There was no stadium, no people watching that weren't involved directly with the teams, but do you know what, it was great. We sat on the grass and watched 2 x 7 - inning games (double headers)and a bunch of individuals that were there for the pure love of the game and not for the financial aspects like so many other sportsmen. Okay so there were no home runs, but it still kept us entertained for the best part of 2 hours.
If I lived a little nearer, then I would definitely go to watch them again and I certainly wouldn't ever turn down the opportunity of watching a bigger game in the States, but for now I'm quite happy I spent a few hours on an otherwise boring Sunday completing another task.
