3 Strikes

So I have a radio in my bathroom. . . . . . . .
I like to listen to the AM Radio while I take my morning shower. This usually occurs at a time when most of you are already at work, because my job rules. Anyhow. This morning I was shocked to hear a report on the Texas Rangers pre-season game results from the night before. I can't believe it. Baseball is back already. . . . . . . .


Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I hate baseball; I'd just really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really rather be watching a spelling bee on ESPN then a 15 hour game of overdone stickball. Rick Reilly put it best in his Tivo worshiping article by saying "Tivo allows you to give baseball game all the time it deserves. . . . .15 seconds."

Here's my list of two ways baseball is actually fun:

• If you're playing
• If you're at the park. (And it's not too hot)

Those conditions withstanding, I'd rather be cutting grass.


My biggest beef with baseball is that it dominates the airwaves for soooooooooooooooooooooo long. The season is 11 and a half months long and the games last for half a day. I'm on the front edge of the gen x'ers, and my wife is convinced I'm a classic ADHD case. That being said, I need instant gratification and constant entertainment. (Quite frankly, I'm surprised I've written this much so far without getting distracted.) A baseball game has more slumps and downtime then the LPGA. At least during a golf game the food's probably a little better.

A concern several friends of mine and I have hashed around for a couple years has revolved around the idea that with baseball, you have a 'sport' in which a majority of the actual players never do anything. Hear me out.
Say you play right field. Or any position for that matter. You've got odds that a ball is even hit. Then there's the odds the ball is even hit in your direction. Then there's odds that you're even involved in a play. I don't have the search capabilities, but I'd like to hear about a game in which a player, who started, never actually touched a ball the entire game. It has to have happened a number of times. To me, those kind of odds just don't make for an exciting 'team' sport. Plus, if you're that guy not touching the ball, it also means that what you've done during this time in your professional 'athletic' career is stand in the grass for a couple hours. Kind of reminds me of how we consider bowlers 'athletes'.

I don't hate baseball. . . .I just hate having to watch it, hear about it, see it, see the highlights, see the replay of the highlights, watch baseball tonight do more highlights, hear about who's traded who, and what the standings are in the 3,500 game season.