Why I Prefer Baseball

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Sept. 27, 20i7 | Daniel Henninger

[TBP]

Set to one side that the reason most Americans can sing the words to their national anthem is that for generations, every American attending a professional baseball game has stood to look at the flag while someone sings “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Many Americans think the last words of the national anthem are “Play ball!”

Baseball is about baseball. The NFL and NBA seem to be about more things than I can process—some of them political, some of them personal.

Baseball has an informal code of on-field conduct, which has held for a hundred years. The NFL doesn’t seem to have an enforceable code of anything.

Last Sunday, after the New York Giants’ wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. caught a touchdown pass, Mr. Beckham got down in the end zone and imitated a dog urinating on a fire hydrant, which the opposing Philadelphia Eagles (who won) took as mockery of their team.

From Babe Ruth 90 years ago to Aaron Judge now, when you hit a home run, you run around the bases and into the dugout. That’s it. No end-zone antics that suggest the sport itself takes a back seat to a personality.

After the Yankees’ Mr. Judge hit his 50th home run this week, a record for a rookie, his teammates had to force him out of the dugout to wave to the cheering crowd.

[Carpe Cerevisi]

Except when there is a brawl on the mound or at home plate. And that is just as beautiful!

[x]

Baseball is about baseball.

Baseball, the American pastime

Maybe baseball's about baseball because so many of the players are foreigners.

[pax_et_bonum]

It’s beautiful and intricate and civilized.

Exactly!

The strategy is so much fun.

I always loved watching the Cowboys but baseball's by far my favorite sport.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Maybe baseball's about baseball because so many of the players are foreigners.

I suppose if you are a Dominican here earning nice money, and your alternative would be to go back home and harvest sugar cane for six bucks a day, you are going to behave VERY respectfully during the anthem.

[dfwgator]

"A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms. Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms... What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy? [grabs a baseball bat] Baseball! A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Teamwork.... Looks, throws, catches, hustles - part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and so on. If his team don't field... what is he? You follow me? No one! Sunny day, the stands are full of fans. What does he have to say? "I'm goin' out there for myself. But... I get nowhere unless the team wins."

[dfwgator]

Same for hockey because most of the players are Canadian or European.

[TBP]

Great shot. I might use it for a backdrop for my computer APBA.

[TBP]

I don’t think they’ll get rid of replay, though they should. But time limit it. If you haven’t found “clear and convincing evidence” to overturn the call in a minute or two, you’re probably not going to.

Limit trips to teh mound. Buck Showalter proposes giving each team five of these timeouts to use as they see fit. That would not only speed things up, it would add another strategic element.

Implement the 20-second clock. The average time per pitch is 23 seconds. Knock off three seconds a pitch, you save 15 minutes right there.

But for all its flaws, baseball is still a great game, my sport of choice, and not a sport that promotes political activism or displays of ego or other forms of anti-social behavior.

[TBP]

It opened right up for me.

[TBP]

And the most strategic of the major sports.

[DoughtyOne]

Good. I hope it works for you.

[DoughtyOne]

[TBP]

Nice shot.

[DoughtyOne]

I’d like to find it in a larger format, but couldn’t.

Nice pastel colors almost like a painting...

[DoughtyOne]

[Honorary Serb]

I prefer baseball because I love the Red Sox!!!!

The “Patriots”? Not so much, especially when they don’t act like patriots!!

[Jacquerie]

<>Please, MLB, don’t screw this up.<>

Agree.

I didn’t take the baseball strike of the early 90s very hard. I didn’t like it, but afterward watched the game when I could.

I was an early subscriber to MLB.com, when the service wasn’t very good.

I didn’t see the A’s catcher take a knee a few days ago, but I swear that if I see such behavior in the post-season, my love affair with baseball is over.

[YogicCowboy]

I now prefer no sports at all. Simple. More free time to read and write.

[foreverfree]

I didn't notice (or at least didn't figure out) Beckham's doggie move, only reading the description later. I did notice his black power salute.

ff

[foreverfree]

How do I get around the WSJ's paywall? I don't subscribe to it or its website.

ff