I've decided that baseball is definitely the best sport. That's surprising, because growing up, baseball was my least favorite sport -- it was all about football, and basketball if it involved the Jazz.
So what makes baseball so great? Here are a few reasons.
1. It's perfectly made for TV. There's already built-in time for commercials, so the game isn't unnecessarily stopped for a commercial break, breaking up the flow.
2. The last 60 seconds of the game (in terms of the clock) don't last for 60 minutes. Sure, there are a couple of things that prolong the game at the conclusion, such as bringing in new pitchers, but for the most part, the game can't drag out at the end simply by calling time outs, fouling, or throwing the ball out of bounds.
3. On that same front, my complaint about basketball is that you can be up by 12 with one minute to go, and then it's foul, foul, foul and the whole game is decided by sloppy hitting of opponents and by shooting foul shots.
4. Baseball is smart enough to realize that there are times when it's not nice enough outside to play. Football players must be tough and play in tornadoes. Baseball has the good sense to head inside if it rains.
5. You get souvenirs. If the ball goes into the crowd, it's yours to keep.
6. Even if you're getting creamed, you have to keep playing. In basketball or football, you just run out the clock. In baseball, you still have to get through several more innnings.
7. When a player comes out, he's out for the game. Makes for great strategy.
8. Except for the Pitcher and the DH, you have to play offense and defense.
9. The playoffs are a fair representation of the actual season. You never play a team 7 times in a row in basketball, but in the playoffs, you do. But in baseball, you regularly play a team multiple times right in a row, just like the playoffs.
10. Baseball commentators actually have interesting things to say. I actually ask Josh to be quiet during the broadcasts and miss the commentary when I go to the stadium because it's so fascinating to learn the strategy and hear the rationale behind things.
11. Each game is SO different based on who the pitcher is. It completely changes the complexion of the game.
12. The final score is so interesting. Soccer is always like 1 to 1. Basketball is like 100 to 98. But baseball could be 1-0, 6-3, 10-2, 10-9, etc, and it is so telling. In other words, each game is so fascinating.
I could go on, but we've already written into extra innings. Go Yankees! (They're only 9.5 back now!)
Mark
PS -- Here's the plus one for the night. We got some Monopoly game pieces on the Space Shuttle and two of my team members got to go watch the launch last week. Guess what the area code is for the area in Florida with the Space Center? 3-2-1. Cool!
