How to enjoy amateur baseball, what to look for in amateur baseball

I started playing amateur baseball about 10 years ago, without any prior experience in student baseball.
After 10 years, you'll have belonged to various teams and interacted with many different people.
This time, I'd like to write about my own conclusions regarding how to enjoy amateur baseball and what I look for in it.

My fundamental view is that amateur baseball is "a game of pretend baseball for everyone to enjoy."

Playing amateur baseball is not a job.

First and foremost, playing amateur baseball is not a job.
Unlike professionals, I'm not doing this to get paid; I'm doing it as a hobby.
A hobby is meaningless unless you enjoy doing it.
Of course, it's not all fun and games; there are physically demanding aspects, but I don't think it's something to be depressed about.
Therefore, if you're not enjoying it, there's absolutely no need to force yourself to continue.

As an aside,Since amateur baseball is something that people do together during their free time on weekends, it's only natural that they must follow proper etiquette.
Being punctual and notifying others of your attendance are basic rules that are expected even outside of amateur baseball.
This is a matter of basic manners, regardless of whether it's for work or hobbies.
It's disappointing to see that some people seem to take that matter too lightly.

The meaning of baseball skills for beginners

I find it enjoyable to gradually acquire skills, even starting from zero baseball experience.

What I want you to understand here is that what's important is the attitude of wanting to improve, not the technique itself.

For someone like me with no prior experience, I think of baseball skills as nothing more than a trophy that represents a level of achievement.

Related to that,In a "team built to win," skill itself is often prioritized over manners.

In other words, it's a world where skilled players are considered valuable, and unskilled players are considered worthless.
In a team like that, an inexperienced player like me will remain a worthless player unless I surpass the skill level of the experienced players.
No matter how quickly you indicate your attendance or absence, or how quickly you arrive before anyone else at the meeting time, it's meaningless.
Because they lack the skills (i.e., are less skilled) compared to experienced people.

The line between having fun and winning

Since baseball is fundamentally a sport whose purpose is to win, there is no escaping that.

However, if enjoyment is sacrificed in order to win, then it's no longer an enjoyable hobby.

For example, consider a situation where, because the team you belong to prioritizes winning above all else, you, being a less skilled player, are not allowed to play at all.
In order to win, it's better for the team if I, being less skilled, don't play.
That's not going to be fun.

That's one of the reasons I dislike the phrase "amateur baseball played to win."
Even if it's the best strategy for winning, the player who gets rejected can't possibly enjoy it.
In a team where winning is everything, if being good at baseball is all that matters, then you must accept that you yourself may be excluded for the same reason.

I think many teams find a way to compromise, taking into account factors like attendance and contribution, and aiming to win within those constraints.
However, such half-hearted compromises, if the criteria are not clear, can easily lead to dissatisfaction among members.
I dislike ambiguous criteria, so I didn't want to be on a team where those weren't clearly defined.
I feel it's unfair that I get fewer opportunities to play for unclear reasons, even though I pay the same amount in membership fees and uniform costs.

Amateur baseball is like "playing professional baseball."

Ultimately, no matter how much you focus on winning, there's always someone better.
If you're truly committed to winning, you can dedicate as much time as you need to daily practice, strength training, and other preparations.
However, ultimately, everyone is playing amateur baseball while also having a job, so they can't dedicate unlimited time to it, and they have to compromise somewhere.
I think it would be better if everyone just enjoyed themselves, like they were playing "professional baseball," without being too fixated on winning.

By the way, not being fixated on winning doesn't mean not aiming to win.
It means that winning is not the primary objective.
I think the most enjoyable approach is to aim for victory by pursuing a strategy that satisfies the greatest common denominator of what everyone on the team finds fun.

Something more important than skill

I think it all comes down to how quickly you indicate whether you'll be attending or not.
The most important thing in amateur baseball is gathering members.
Due to the nature of the sport, where too much or too little is unacceptable, it's extremely difficult for the coach to make the right adjustments.
Given these circumstances, members who respond promptly regarding their attendance or absence, even for events scheduled far in the future, are highly valued.
If the announcement is made too late, there won't be enough time to find a replacement, and in the worst case, the match might not even be held.

I think the speed at which people indicate their attendance and the attendance rate are the most important factors, more so than skill level.
The next most important thing is how much you contribute to the team, such as being punctual for meetings and being cooperative in maintaining the grounds.
To be honest, I think the members who help out with all the miscellaneous tasks surrounding the matches are our greatest asset, more so than our match results.

summary

I've written about a lot of things, but I think the best way to enjoy amateur baseball is to play "professional baseball" with everyone.
And what's necessary for that is to follow basic manners.
When you start to feel that playing amateur baseball isn't fun anymore, why not take some time to think carefully about why that is and what you're looking for in amateur baseball?

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