For an Englishman, my enthusiasm for baseball may seem a tad strange. Baseball does not enjoy a big following in Britain, and yet I developed a passion for the American national pastime at a tender age. My interest in baseball begins with my father, who was born and raised in England but, as a musician, toured the American Air Force bases during the early 1960s. He developed a keen interest in baseball during this time by watching the Air Force teams play and participating in the occasional scratch games.

As I was growing up we would play catch with the gloves he had acquired from the military and I really got hooked at a very young age. By the time I was 12 I was playing in a competitive league and continued to do so for the next 20 years.

Most of those years I was a catcher with the Enfield Spartans -  a team that reached the British finals every year from 1989 to 1994 and were British champions four of those years. I also played for the Great Britain national and Olympic teams, playing all over Europe. During those years I worked as a Sales Manager with the British distributors for Starter sportswear, Louisville Slugger and Rawlings, and as baseball coach at The American School in London.

Fleeting moments of my own achievements will always be with me, but more than anything I enjoy the things that make baseball so perfect - the ballfields with their lovingly maintained grass infield, the rich brown dirt base paths, and perfectly laid white lines; the thud of a fresh white baseball hitting a well-seasoned glove; and the grace and precision of my teammates as they execute with perfection seemingly impossible plays. There's no doubt about it - I love baseball.