I'm so thrilled for you and of course the photos are SI worthy.
Such a wonderful post.

I went to a couple minor league games in San Jose and found the atmosphere to be fun. Besides the fun stuff like goofy contests, there's also the chance to see some future star before anyone else knows them or to see a current big star doing rehab.

Thanks hvn_nbr_2. It WAS fun and even so despite the visitors shellacking the heck out of the home team Indians.

When you wrote " there's also the chance to see some future star before anyone else knows them" it inspired me to google that process, minors to majors. Found this link:
https://www.mlb.com/milb/history

I stayed away from the game for 32+ years myself. When the strike of '94 happened I swore off the game. Didn't go, didn't watch, didn't care. My eyes would glaze over when the topic of baseball came up. But last year, I moved to a new place that happened to be just a few minutes from a local college's baseball stadium. On a lark I went with a buddy to a game and enjoyed it. Soon I was watching games on tv and caring about them again. I even picked up with my old team and changed my avatar.

So, I was curious why you stayed away.

Although my interest waned as I got older, it dropped altogether down the tubes with the strike in '94. How in the world, I wondered bitterly, could this happen to our "national past-time"! Where went the love of baseball and apple pie? Neither did I care or watch or go.

Heck I used to love listening to the Yankees 1960s' night games on am radio!

Then, kind of like you I moved. My wife and I ended up pretty dang close to this minor league club. My wife's long-time horse rider friend lives here. She and I got to talking baseball, she said she has season tickets and would we want to see a game "on her". That led to the amazing experience the other night. On the way to the car, I impulse bought a rain jacket with the team's emblem on it.

Suddenly I love baseball again just like you.
Thanks!

You might want to check this book out: "Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments"

Someone at the time asked why I was giving up the game, and I told them that the players had managed to do something that even Hitler couldn't pull off: stop the game. That was enough for me.

It wasn't an easy road back, but here I am.