Baseball and Me

Baseball will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.

Walt Whitman




Whitman, it seems, found pure joy in baseball. I, on the other hand, seem to have a more complicated point of view. In fact, I've always had a pretty mercurial relationship with baseball. When the season begins, I'm always really excited. I usually join a fantasy league and read up on expert predictions. And, I always believe, for a month or two, that the Rangers will finally get over the hump, despite neglecting their pitching for the fifteenth straight off season. During the summer, however, my enthusiasm for baseball wanes, mostly, I think, because I don't have the attention span for an entire season (162 games). Also, during the summer, the post-season seems so far off, so it's easy to neglect the day to day of MLB. I even get tired of seeing baseball highlights, especially during that stretch after basketball but before NFL preseason. But I usually start caring about baseball again right about now (although I will admit it's been harder this year than most. Sox-Astros? This is the crappiest world series since the indians-marlins in 97).

Really, if I'm honest with myself (which is rare), baseball's not my favorite sport. Football is more entertaining to me, and I definitely have more nostalgia for basketball. As a kid, I was pretty good at basketball, but I sucked at baseball. I couldn't hit the ball very well, and I sucked as a fielder. I really wanted to play catcher, but it freaked me out anytime someone swung the bat in front of me and also when the ball was thrown real hard at me. It just didn't work out.

As a kid, I liked the idea of playing baseball a lot more than I actually liked playing. I've always, I think, had more of an aesthetic and intellectual attraction to baseball as well as an appreciation for its history. I think it's a game that is timeless in some aspects and one of hidden complexity that requires a refined appreciation, and I like it for those reasons, but that puts it in an altogether different category than other sports. Not a better category, just different.

I do wish it were my favorite sport, but, really it's not. Other sports are more entertaining to me. My loyalty to the Rangers doesn't even compare to my fanaticism for the Cowboys. But still, it is world series time, and I plan to watch it. I've decided to root for the Astros, even though I hate the Astros. I'd like to see Bagwell and Biggio get a ring, and I hate the White Sox too, so that's enough of a reason.