Tonight is the mid-summer classic. The annual gathering of the best in Major League Baseball. The All Star Game. Whether or not you care for the game of baseball or not, you can’t deny that baseball, more than any other sport, is impacted by the concept of home. Think about it.

The iconic play in baseball is the home run. You have home plate. The official anthem of baseball has the line “root, root, root for the home team.” There are meticulously kept lawns in baseball. Watering the grass, and even the dirt, are a regular occurrence at major league game. And every baseball field has a fence around “the yard.”

The metaphor of home is undeniably present in the game of baseball, but beyond word play the sport and the concept of home is rooted deeper in the hearts of Americans. Americana & memories of home often have visions of playing catch in the yard with a parent. Little league is a longstanding staple of local communities. Wiffle ball is possibly the most played unofficial sport in backyards across the country. Baseball is home.

Even the greatest baseball movies convey this concept of home. Look at Field of Dreams. When it comes down to it, it’s a movie about a guy longing for one last time to play catch with his dad…in his backyard.

I’ve blogged before about how my best backyard memories are playing catch with my dad, home run derby with my neighborhood friends and weekly games of wiffle ball. On top of that I remember summer nights spent as a family watching baseball and getting to stay up late for to see the end of the game.

Chances are if you’re watching the All Star Game tonight, you’ll be viewing it in your home. In my opinion there’s no more appropriate place to watch it. Enjoy the mid-summer classic.

Image courtesy of Flickr user popofatticus