The Dawning Of A New Beginning

Baseball is unlike any other sport.  The season is so long and as many games as possible are played in the span of a little more than 6 months.  For die-hard fans the entire year is devoted to their favorite team.  Half of it spent watching their games, the other half waiting anxiously for the player-business and trades to happen.  But there is always something going on.

The offseason seems so long.  But then Spring Training starts and it is all forgotten.  Baseball is the only sport where it seems completely normal to travel to see your team train for the upcoming season.  See the veterans come back and the young players show up for the first time.  They are all working towards the same goal.  Get ready to play some ball.  No matter what level they end up at, they will all be playing the same game.

It's a game that's different from any other.  For one, the ball is given to the defense.  That would be considered stupid in any other sport.  But in baseball, it's how it works.  Somebody always has a job to do, matter what happens.  You really learn that if you play the game as kid.  Everybody's moving on every play. 

And your team is never out of the game.  There is no clock.  Only 9 innings.  No racing the clock, or 2-minute drills.  You have 27 outs to score more runs than the other team.  The other team has 27 outs to score more runs than you.  Both teams have equal opportunity to score.  There isn't "time of possession".  You could be down by multiple runs with 26 outs and 2 strikes on your batter, and still win the game.  That doesn't happen in any other sport.

Also, the schedule is longer than any other sport.  With 162 games you don't have to get too upset about 1 loss.  Or ever a week in which your team loses 4 games.  In football, there are only 16 games.  If you lose 4 of your games that's a quarter of your season.  Not every baseball game has to be picked apart because people can have bad days.  Most likely there is a game the next day to redeem yourself. 

It's the only sport where the head coach is wearing the team uniform.  Because he really is part of team.

Of course there is other reasons baseball is the best game in world.  There's a reason it's still the National Pastime. 

Let's Go Mets!