With Team USA on the brink of elimination from the WBC and the grapefruit and cactus leagues winding down, that means that opening day is near. This is the last post in this series, so if you've missed any you can catch up by clicking the label 'baseball' from the side bar. I'll do a predictions post a few days before the first pitch so keep your eyes peeled. Now where was I...Baseball truly is a unique sport. Baseball is a sport that plays out like a child's game; you know with a board and tokens and situational cards to direct the outcome. I love baseball because of the format of the game itself. Unlike the other major sports, baseball is not ruled by a timer or clock. Time is no factor as the outcome of the game is settled by the players themselves. As I have written in a previous post in this series, baseball is a game of execution, not last second desperation. There are nine innings in which both teams take turns batting and fielding. If there has ever been a good definition of 'equal opportunity' this is it. Both teams competing against one another get 27 outs. Again, the game itself directs the play, unaffected and uninterrupted by a timepiece.
Situations dictate the flow and the dramatics of the game. At any given moment, any number of plays or outcomes could occur. Teams have options during these situations. An example, of course, would be laying down a bunt to advance a runner or sacrificing an at-bat by hitting to the off field or the runner just stealing the base. Ball players moving about the bases is like taking a turn in a board game; rolling the die, advancing your token the appropriate number of spaces and then reading the situational action card. When you read the card and await your next turn, you're thinking of your next move. In baseball, there are multiple ways to score and multiple ways to win.
Another beautiful feature of baseball is that the scoring is a result of action that happens from all angles, not concluded at a specific post or dependent on the ball. The other major sports channel the action toward a goal, a specific point at which the scoring occurs. The baseball doesn't have to end up in a basket or net or end zone. This is a reactionary game. With the exception of the home run, the action doesn't depend on the ball itself to satisfy the scoreboard, but on the players reaction to how the ball is traveling and how it is being handled. Yea, the ball has to be in motion to get the wheels turning, but it doesn't have to be struck well or even struck at all to get runs across home plate. A wild pitch can score a run. A sacrifice fly out can score a run. I've seen multiple times a bases on balls (both an unintentional and intentional walk) win a game. Compared to the other major sports, baseball boasts diverse plots of success.
Finally, I love baseball because it is a team sport that showcases individual performances. Thinking about this, I realize that all team sports can tout this in some form or fashion. Only in baseball does the individual performance take center stage. All eyes (teammates, the opposing team, fans) transfix upon the pitcher versus the hitter, each isolated for a moment as if nothing else is going on. I remember last July while on a stadium tour with my college friends. We were in Yankee Stadium when the Red Sox were in town. Mariano Rivera was closing out a 1-0 lead for the Yankees when Manny Ramirez stepped to the plate with a runner on. If there is a batter you want in this situation, it's Manny--the best I've ever seen. That was the game he was first accused of quiting on the Sox. He watched three strikes pass and the Yankees won. For just that one moment, the world seemed to stand still.
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