Domenic Vadala: Fondly recalling my earliest baseball memories

Greetings, O's fans, and welcome back to another season of Orioles baseball! On behalf Birds Watcher, I'd like to thank you, the readers, as well as the powers that be at MASNsports.com, for having me back as a guest blogger this year. Baseball is unlike any other sport in that opening day is a massive celebration, and that party welcoming the sport back to the front pages of our minds seems to last for the better part of April.

And for me, that raises an interesting point. The return of baseball means something different to each of us in our own minds. To some, it's simply the start of the season - and that's OK. But to many of us it's also something more, which is OK, too.

I feel like my spring break from school always seemed to coincide with the beginning of baseball season when I was a kid in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. True to form, I always spent that spring break with my grandparents in Cecil County - Rising Sun, to be exact. That, in and of itself, is the root of me following the Orioles - first as a fan, but certainly now as a writer.

Rising Sun was very much an Orioles town, and it still is (though there's a sizable Phillies presence, as well). And the fact that the hero of the day, the great Cal Ripken Jr., was from nearby Aberdeen didn't hurt. By day, I'd learn the ropes of life from my grandparents. And by night, I'd follow the first few Orioles games of the new season. This would continue once I went back to school, but it was always more special in the beginning.

These visits would sometimes involve a trip to the ballpark over the course of that first week with my Dad or my uncle, along with various other relatives at times. Especially as a very young child, there was nothing like those first few trips to 33rd Street or later Camden Yards, which opened when I was 11.

I often find myself thinking of that 10-year old version of me laying in bed at his grandmother's house listening to the great Chuck Thompson or Jon Miller calling the games - and thinking of how Chuck would call the games of today. I find myself wondering if Mickey Tettleton and Bill Ripken would have been able to team up to nail a runner at second on a steal attempt like Matt Wieters and Jonathan Schoop do. Or if Eddie Murray would have hit a ball as far as Chris Davis.

I always think back on those times with fond memories and warm thoughts. Not only was I spending time with my grandparents (and other relatives) whom I loved dearly, but I was forming a foundation of something that would serve me well later in life. Because if not for those times, I wouldn't be here writing these words.

The fact is that there are millions of similar stories around Baltimore and in countless other cities in America. That's why I believe that the beginning of baseball season is much more special than in any other sport. Admittedly, the fact that it coincides with the beginning of spring might have something to do with it, but I would also submit that some of our fondest memories probably harken back to beautiful days and nice weather.

As much as I love the other sports, they're much more in your face, in a sense. Baseball's beauty is partially rooted in the romanticism of the game. And due to the fact that it takes place in summer, we associate it with childhood, vacation and, of course, with family. More so than in any other sport, in baseball we often hear about how people associate the game with their families - a story that you just heard from me. Incidentally, my grandparents weren't baseball fans or sports fans at all. But I always feel closer to them when I talk or write about the O's because I associate them with my earliest of memories of the team.

All of you reading this have your own stories as well. Perhaps it was listening to the games on the beach in Ocean City, crabbing on the bay, or on your front porch in Bel Air or Annapolis with your parents while sipping lemonade. No matter where your story starts, I'm sure it's a good one. Mine begins in Rising Sun.

Domenic Vadala blogs about the Orioles at Birds Watcher, and his opinions appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. Follow him on Twitter: @DomenicVadala. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.