I miss baseball.

Specifically:

- Cooking dinner to the pleasant drone of Gary, Keith and Ron on nights I'm home with family.

- The roar at Yankee Stadium when Aaron Judge hits a game-tying home run.

- Taking my son to Citi Field on his birthday and surprising him with a message on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. We were going to do that again in May.

- Asking James Paxton about his knuckle curve.

- Watching Paxton throw his knuckle curve (and his fastball -- high 90s from the left side with movement? Now that's fun).

- Leaning against a wall on the second deck at Citi Field, listening to the crowd sizzle as Jacob deGrom records the final out of the inning and stalks off the field.

- Knowing that if I'm bored between early evening and 1 a.m. there will be a game on TV. Every day for six months.

- Learning how to spot sign sequences and pitch tipping. Every season brings a different project and that was going to be this year's.

- Asking GMs what they are going to do with their rosters and relaying that info to the fans who care so much. What a privilege it is to be that person.

- The feeling of adrenaline -- nerves even -- each time I walk into a clubhouse before a game. It's not our turf and we can never get comfortable. That discomfort makes you feel extra alert and alive.

- Walking out of the press gate and into the muggy South Bronx night.

- Watching Dellin Betances work himself in and out of trouble in a late inning.

- Texting with my dad during games and my mom after shows.

- Standing a few feet from the cage when Giancarlo Stanton takes BP. Hearing the special boom that echoes off his bat.

- Asking Aaron Boone why he made a particular pitching change.

- Asking Luis Rojas about the players whose skills he knows so well. His depth of knowledge was so clear a few days into spring training and now we don't get to hear it.

- Driving home after midnight and formulating ideas for the next day. A little stressed, sometimes overwhelmed, never bored and always alive.

- The routines of my job.

- Being away, missing home, coming home.

- Our lives.

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