The baseball season consists of 162 games. That’s 1458 innings and 8748 outs. And that’s not even including the postseason.
By the end of September those silly numbers that don’t mean anything to many of you females out there culminate into 486 hours. That’s 486 hours in which the men in your life are either in front of the TV or computer or at the ballpark. That’s 486 hours in which they’re watching nine players with gloves on a field that has four bases – each 90 feet apart – while the nine other players gamble with four balls and three strikes at the plate against a pitcher who usually possesses four or five types of pitches. They do this for six months out of the year – eight if you include Spring Training and nine if their team makes the playoffs.
Basically it’s a game of numbers (if you couldn’t tell). That’s why men dig the whole fantasy baseball thing. That’s an entirely different story though. More than anything baseball is a game of emotions which answers several of my female friends’ questions about why men watch the game.
For the record several women including myself love the game just as much as men. But for those who don’t please try to understand the phenomenon created by a little white ball with red seams. Men you cherish that thing as much as a TV remote while many women just want to throw it at the TV.
Like Annie in “Bull Durham a majority of men are believers in the Church of Baseball. Life continuously throws curveballs and changeups at us every day, but with baseball they can disappear with a swing of a bat. And, if you’re lucky enough to be in Anaheim, you get to witness Angels in the outfield. It’s a sacred experience, really.
Even more, girls, the game of baseball is predictable – unlike some of us, right? Just ask Jimmy Fallon and his character Ben in Fever Pitch.” When a friend asks him why they inflict on themselves the heartache that comes with the end of every baseball season he responds in a genius manner.
“Every April they’re here he says. At 1:05 or at 7:05 there is a game. And if it gets rained out guess what? They make it up to you. Does anyone else in your life do that? The Red Sox don’t get divorced. This is a real family. This is the family that’s here for you.”
It’s true. In fact Opening Day in April should be a national holiday. Life and the world we’re living in may change but the game of baseball will always remain constant. Now that’s what I call a cause for celebration.
The game is an emotional rollercoaster that stays steady during the first few months of the season and slows down during the dog days of August before suddenly speeding up just in time for the playoff race. For some the ride ends abruptly; for others the ride allows them to stay on a bit longer to enjoy some October magic.
And when the ride ends? “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball former professional baseball player Rogers Hornsby once said. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
So then I know you women are wondering why men are still talking about baseball now that November is here. Well one of the glorious aspects of the game is that even though the season may be over the work that goes into those games is never done. Trades here free agent signings there. Oh the joys of the “off” season.
I’ve been around the game long enough to appreciate all these things. During the past few years I’ve written more than 300 stories about baseball games the athletes who play the game and the people who love the game.
So for y’all who don’t find baseball worth watching take another look. It’s the only sport in which time doesn’t exist. It’s the only sport in which the coaches join the players in wearing uniforms (I always found that kinda cute). And it’s the only sport in which you can fail seven times out of 10 and still be considered great.
There’s just no such thing as a bad day at the ballpark.