My first baseball game

I met a YouTube legend, but brought bad luck to the Chicago Cubs...

I find myself completely and utterly charmed by American sports. The passion and enthusiasm shown by all involved is infectious for my curious soul.

To be clear, we are passionate about sports in Scotland (and the rest of the UK) as well. In particular, we are bonkers about football (soccer to most of you). We will riot -sometimes stark-naked through the streets - in the name of our favourite team. But I dunno, there is something different about the level of passion I’ve seen for sports in America.

I began my US sports journey with football. I saw a game between the NY Giants and Detroit… I want to say Frogs?… just kidding, the Lions (if you don’t get the joke, watch the YouTube video) in New Jersey. I then joined the tailgate and after parties in New Orleans for the Saints versus Cowboys. Finally, I saw the Texans play the Panthers in London. I loved everything about these experiences.

The enthusiasm of the fans, the bright colours and fireworks, the singing of the national anthem, and the sheer and unadulterated commercialism of American sporting spectacles grabs you by the feels.

And then there’s baseball.

I’ll cut to the chase - for those who haven’t watched my latest vlog, you can do so here:

I’d arrived in Chicago on my US summer tour, and on my very first day in the Windy City had arranged to meet fellow Brit YouTube sensation Laurence Brown of Lost in the Pond fame. This was June 2022, by the way. He’s now clean shaven and has become a confirmed American citizen.

I thought it would be fun if we went to see the Cubs at the famous Wrigley Field stadium.

In true Brit fashion (by the way, everyone from Scotland, England and Wales is technically British. This is a fact of geography, not politics, for those who commented to the contrary on this topic), we were awkward for our first in-person encounter.

After some typically-British small talk about the weather, we both opened up.

As a viewer and fan of his work, I’d been keen to meet Laurence for a long time. For those wondering, he’s just as funny in person as he is on camera, as I’m sure comes across in our video.

I’m sorry the audio quality isn’t particularly great as I was using my smaller camera and the acoustics at the game presented challenges.

I was joined by my wife Teka, while Laurence’s wife Tarah came too - and just as well: as a baseball fan she kept us right on many things that we found confusing.

In truth, Laurence and I weren’t quite as confused as it may have come across in the video. Much of that was tongue-in-cheek humour.

We all agreed that the experience at such a historic place like Wrigley Field was exceptional. There was something nice about the atmosphere - family friendly and pleasant. There was still passion, and lots of food, but it was relaxed. And we liked the sports too. I can easily see myself getting into it and going to more games in future.

In the end, we were bad luck for the Cubs, who lost to arch-rivals St Louis Cardinals. Nonetheless, we had a great time and really enjoyed meeting Laurence and Tarah. Make sure you check them out on the internet if you haven’t already.

My American sporting love-affair grows, with the addition of baseball to the sports I’ve watched. What’s next? Ice hockey? Basketball? At least one of them may appear in an upcoming episode of Shaun Takes America.

Thanks for watching,

Shaun

P.S. I am loving making these videos and newsletter posts, but I spent a small fortune travelling to America last year. I wan’t to come back in 2023, but may need help to save some pennies. If you are willing and able, please consider becoming a supporter of my work. You can do so by joining my Patreon or by becoming a paid subscriber below. Thanks!

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