That “no dad to play catch with” reason is faulty. I rarely or never played catch with father (he wasn’t interested), but I played a heck of a lot of baseball when I was a kid. It was my best sport. You played catch with your friends.
Sadly, you missed one of life’s great pleasures. Fondest memories of my Dad were playing catch. Glad he lasted long enough for a three-way catch with my son and me.