Written by Emerson Lam
You don’t exactly come to the UK for baseball. When I asked people if they knew that LSE had a baseball society, the usual reaction was a surprised, “oh, I didn’t know, that’s pretty cool!”. That makes sense: though there is a British Baseball Federation, the sport doesn’t have the same cultural presence that you find in places like the US or Japan. As a big baseball fan myself, I was pretty disappointed last year when I went to the sports fair and came up empty. So, when I saw that a baseball society was finally starting this year, I had to go and check it out.
Attending the first-ever LSE Baseball training session, I found myself going over the basics, such as how to swing a bat and catch a ball. It was definitely a bit mundane at first, but so is the basics of every sport: you’ve got to start somewhere, especially when most participants are picking up the sport for the very first time. Of course, we ran into the classic beginner’s problem: the gear. The metal bats were a bit worse for wear after a few solid hits, and finding a glove that would fit just right was a challenge. But, in a way, that just made it more impressive that the society managed to get off the ground. It’s not a simple sport to pick up, but the society is making it work.
After the session, I caught up with Soomin, the President and co-founder. I’ve known him, Eldon (the Vice-President), and Marc (the Treasurer) since I joined LSE last year, so I was curious about what drove them to start the society. As Soomin put it, “With all three of us having played baseball for more than seven years, when we found out that there wasn’t a LSE Baseball Society, we became determined to start one.” With a long-term goal of building up a team that is able to compete, the club aims to build up the foundation of baseball at the university in this first year, buying essential equipment and creating networks with other universities for friendly matches. In particular, multiple matches have already been set up with the UCL Baseball Society, creating a strong network between the two universities that will hopefully help both teams improve.
At the end of the day, baseball is just a really fun sport that has a way of creating unforgettable, rewarding moments that just stick with you. These snippets aren’t always going to be major, like winning a championship — just like in most team sports, bonding with your fellow teammates can be just as much of a memorable experience. As someone who loves the game, I’d tell anyone with the slightest interest to give it a shot. Yes, the learning curve is steep, but that’s what makes it so satisfying when you finally get it right.
