Why I love baseball

This is something I try to do once a year around the holidays. I spend around 50 weeks speaking with a critical eye about this and that enough to make some people wonder why I even watch at all. Baseball has always been my first love and probably always will. I don’t really know why. I was imminently better at the other major sports and most of the minor ones. I couldn’t hit a ball to save my life, but I could chase it down decently enough.

So, I’m sure that ease of play wasn’t it. What I am certain of is that it was the perfect storm of rich history, opportunities for analytical analysis, and uniqueness. No two parks are the same. You can’t say that about any other sport. Sure, Jerry Jones’ monstrosity has a huge scoreboard, but it’s 100 yards long like any other field. Not so in baseball and that difference lends more to way teams build their individual rosters.

However, it was on Christmas day that it all hit home. I got two jerseys for two teams no longer in existence (Oakland Oaks and Seattle Rainiers). Yet, it was the coolest thing because it continues my pursuit of collecting jerseys from the historic PCL and they just look good. It wasn’t about getting the latest Kobe jersey although some people make sure to get those.

One of the problems with all major sports is the increase of player movement from team to team. Each sport deals with it differently. Some try to encourage players to stay (NBA) while others try to make it about the team (NFL). Baseball has had more problems dealing with that, but the game is insulated. Even a Washington Nationals fan can find a reason to watch. That certainly true of a Houston Astros fan.

The game insulates the fan by creating more one on one action than in any other sport. So, it is easier to focus on individual success even in defeat. In the other sports, a player’s success depends on the competence of another player. A quarterback most have protection and receivers that can catch the ball. Basketball players must have someone to pass them the ball. A hitter can succeed on his own even if every other hitter sucks.

The same is true of pitchers, but to a lesser extent. This is where the analytical analysis becomes more important. I literally learn something new in analysis every year. Interestingly enough, watching the game hasn’t changed that much. There is enough time to include all of that and not miss a key moment. Some people find the pace of play too slow, but that’s one of its charms for me. You can have a good conversation and watch the game.

A priest at the Catholic Charismatic Center in Houston had a good analogy that works well for sports as well. He said that someone that screamed and hollered at the television (or painted their chest/face) would be comfortable in a charismatic setting. Similarly, someone that was more subdued would not. Well, someone more subdued would be more comfortable watching a baseball game. I enjoy football, but I’ve never painted any part of my body and don’t plan on doing it anytime soon.

The last and final argument for baseball is the season itself. It starts in the beginning of spring (when things are coming back to life) and ends when things are beginning to die. It matches the natural life cycle. It mirrors our nation’s history with every issue in the game matching an issue in the outside world (desegregation, drug abuse, economy). There is no time in the year that baseball is not the news and in the thoughts of its fans. So, the next time you catch me complaining about the Astros or baseball in general understand that I do it because I care, not because I don’t.