I have fallen out of love with baseball.
Yes, the dog days of summer are here. That means basketball, a winter sport indigenous to the U.S., is just starting their championship series. And that hockey, another winter sport, but this one transplanted to frigid regions of the U.S. like Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, and LA, just crowned a new champion. But as the seconds tick off on the NBA Series between the Lakers and the Celtics, what it really means is that we’re officially entering the dead period before football season starts.
Some sports purists just sat up a little straighter. Say what? Don’t you know it’s baseball season!
True. Baseball is still America’s pastime, particularly if you live in Boston or NYC and can outspend the rest of the league (combined) in the quest for tactical superiority and garnering every spot on the All Star team. But football is America’s passion. And so for the rest of us, excluding St. Louis fans who support their Cards no matter what, Chicago some years (or for certain proud masochistic Cubs fans, every year), and one Cinderella-story elsewhere in America, we just don’t care. Sure, we’ll watch a game or two before the season is over, but the second game depends on whether women’s bowling or billiards (or some combination of those two sports) is in reruns yet.
Just for context, I didn’t grow up with anything but love for baseball. I was born in Dayton, Ohio, about 45 miles north of Cincinnati, and was there when the Big Red Machine terrorized opposing pitchers. (My rookie year as a 5-year-old fan at old Crosley Field was Pete Rose’s rookie year as a player.) I was in Kansas City for most of the George Brett era and attended a minimum of 20-something games a year.
But something happened. It’s not just that the clubs I like started losing. You expect success to be cyclical in sports, unless you’re a Cubs fan, of course. (Sorry for that second gratuitous shot at the Cubbies in one article.) With the explosion of free agency, I discovered I didn’t know half the guys on “my team” from one season to the next. I could have lived with some rebuilding years with a young exciting roster of “our guys”, but once-proud franchises like the Royals and Reds became development squads for the deep pocketed coastal teams. Throw in a couple of strikes, including one that accomplished something that not even Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany could pull off – shutting down a World Series – and I was gone as a fan. I think forever.
So you’re pretty mad at baseball? You probably think I’m a hater. Nope. The problem is not that I got mad at baseball but that I simply stopped caring a decade ago. And despite publicity gimmicks like the Red Sox winning the World Series and biannual Congressional Steroids hearings, I’ve lost that loving feeling.
It might be Kevin Garnett with a follow up monster jam or Kobe Bryant with an acrobatic mid-air spin move with a reverse lay up that ends the NBA Finals. But whoever does it sometime in the next 10 days or so, all I can say is it’s almost time for football!
Mark,
It’s hard to speak about sports without gloating. I’m in the Hartford area, the Mason Dixon line between the Evil Empire and Red Sox nation.
Up here we refer to the rest of the American League as the minor league and the National League as the junior varsity. (I’m not making that up.)
But it’s just as rich when it comes to football. Since emperor Belichick (may his majesty live forever) began his run with the wunderkind, yes he’s better than Joe Montana, Brady — we’ve enjoyed the name Title-town in Boston.
And, now that the “beast from the east”, my beloved Boston Celtics, are about to make it 17 titles at the expense of the much over-rated sissy-boys from tinsel-town, well, it just wouldn’t be right to talk about sports.
But I will say this. Boston is known for two things, commitment to professional sports, and brains. If you did an IQ test on the guys who run sports franchises in the big three professional sports, I bet the Boston teams would be at the top. Their success has more to do with that than with money.
What? No snappy retorts? No exasperated put downs for the obnoxious Boston sports fan?
All right, if you insist on taking the high road, I’ll do my best George Will and defend baseball. Apparently I’m the only guy who picks baseball over all other sports. Here are my reasons.
First, baseball is an elegant game combining grace and power. It is not a confusing scrum and a cloud of dust. It is a game of slow tension and long lines of action converging. It is a beautiful game that has a rhythm and yet each game has its own pace.
Second, it is a game that is best enjoyed in person or through narration on the radio. Football is made for television with its frequent “time-outs” and violence. If not for television the game would never have become the center of American sports. It requires close-ups and instant replay from three angles to enjoy. It’s horrible on radio and may be even worse in person. You can never see what’s going on and the moments of grace and space are few and far between — hail Mary, the vertical passing game, or the breakaway run.
3. Baseball is an everyday sport, one that doesn’t monopolize life, but can be going on in the background while you do other things. It plays on the radio while the family drinks iced tea on the front porch and talks about the day.
4. Baseball is played by pretty much average-sized people and not freaks of nature as is the case for both football and basketball. Consequently, regular people can play it, and in the form of softball, it can be played by just about anyone. And people can play together across generations, and co-ed.
Despite the short-comings and foibles of baseball in recent times, it is a far superior game to football.
Baseball has been tainted somewhat by the battle between the “have’s and have-nots” that create eye-popping disparities in what teams pay in player salaries.
Regardless, the game is still a joy to watch when done right. I remember well when the Washington Senators came to Texas and have been a long suffering Ranger fan ever since. I have learned to be content with just watching a team play with the hope of someday climbing that hill. Yes, they have never made it there but then that does not stop one from hoping, any more than sinning causes one to give up on eternity. No, hope always abounds!
Sports is a mirror of life. There are some that will over spend, push the rules beyond the limit and, yes, cheat for the sake of winning all the while gaining the praises of its forgiving fans.
Sorry I haven’t been minding the store. That day job is keeping me busy. So no snappy responses!
Regarding Mortimus’s first response, particularly the reference to intelligence being the determining factor in Boston sports’ success, I’ll grant this much: it appears that Red Sox is twice as smart as Yankees management!
Bottom line, MLB does not have revenue sharing, which means all local media contract dollars go strictly to the local club. How can KC compete with NYC? Impossible. That’s why the NFL is successful. They don’t have to fix games to make sure marquis teams meet in the Superbowl. St. Louis v. Tennessee was a huge ratings success.
Here’s the MLB payroll discrepancy that Dr. G mentions!
1 (1) Yankees $209,081,579 $195,229,045 $13,852,534
2 (9) Tigers $138,685,197 $95,180,369 $43,504,828
3 (3) Mets $138,293,378 $117,915,819 $20,377,559
4 (2) Red Sox $133,440,037 $143,526,214 ($10,086,177)
5 (4) White Sox $121,152,667 $109,680,167 $11,472,500
6 (5) Angels $119,216,333 $109,251,333 $9,965,000
7 (8) Cubs $118,595,833 $99,937,000 $18,658,833
8 (6) Dodgers $118,536,038 $108,704,524 $9,831,514
9 (7) Mariners $117,993,982 $106,516,833 $11,477,149
10 (13) Braves $102,424,018 $89,492,685 $12,931,333
11 (12) Cardinals $100,624,450 $90,286,823 $10,337,627
12 (17) Blue Jays $98,641,957 $79,925,600 $18,716,357
13 (14) Phillies $98,269,881 $89,368,214 $8,901,667
14 (15) Astros $88,930,415 $87,759,500 $1,170,915
15 (18) Brewers $81,004,167 $71,986,500 $9,017,667
16 (23) Indians $78,970,067 $61,673,267 $17,296,800
17 (11) Giants $76,904,500 $90,469,056 ($13,564,556)
18 (20) Reds $74,277,695 $69,154,980 $5,122,715
19 (24) Padres $73,677,617 $58,235,567 $15,442,050
20 (25) Rockies $68,655,500 $54,424,000 $14,231,500
21 (21) Rangers $68,239,551 $68,818,675 ($579,124)
22 (10) Orioles $67,196,248 $95,107,807 ($27,911,559)
23 (26) Diamondbacks $66,202,713 $52,067,546 $14,135,167
24 (19) Twins $62,182,767 $71,439,500 ($9,256,733)
25 (22) Royals $58,245,500 $67,366,500 ($9,121,000)
26 (28) Nationals $54,961,000 $37,347,500 $17,613,500
27 (27) Pirates $49,365,283 $38,604,500 $10,760,783
28 (16) A’s $47,967,126 $79,938,369 ($31,971,243)
29 (30) Rays $43,820,598 $24,124,200 $19,696,398
30 (29) Marlins $21,836,500 $30,507,000 ($8,670,500)
Agreed and well said Mark. Its sad as baseball used to mean something….but until the powers that be decide to get the game under control, level the playing field, etc. it will be nothing more than a distraction to many prior fans of the game. Very said as historical moments like Griffey’s 600th HR doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Now…when does football start?
Well Jr. Griffey’s 600th HR got some attention. The fight for the ball in the stands and the lawsuit the next day!