Best Sport

Be warned, this is a long post, but maybe the most important I have posted.

This is a conversation that I never thought I would have. It just never crossed my mind that anyone could not agree with me on this. I am an adult and I realize, and respect, that there are a variety of opinions out there in the world, most of which don't mesh with my opinions. That is fine. Matter of fact, that is great and that is what makes life so fun. If everyone agreed, then why would there be a need for all of us.
Anyway, I don't really even remember how this argument got started yesterday, but the question came up about which sport is the best sport. Believing that everyone thought the same, I simply made the statement that baseball was the best sport and Scott exploded and demanded that I write a blog explaining why baseball was the best sport and that he would provide a rebuttal. Truthfully, I find it hard to even come up with reasons because there are so many and I have never had to think about why baseball was the best before. I want to use the response "because it is", but I thought I would make a reasonable argument so and allow everyone to respond. I have also offered to post Scott's rebuttal inside this post for everyone to see. I will start with Scott's argument, followed by my own.

Scott's Argument
Before I get a bunch (or maybe one since I think it is only Jim Reader and I who read this blog) of angry e-mails telling me I am un-American for not believing that baseball is the greatest sport in the world please understand that I do enjoy the game… sometimes. I played little league and senior league baseball growing up and even made the all-star team (just in case some of you jerks think I don’t like the sport because I wasn’t any good). I even spent many summers at Watt Powell Park cheering on the Wheelers and then the Alley Cats while growing up in Charleston. But something around my sophomore or junior year of high school made me realize I have better things to do with my time than sit around and watch nine guys stand for the most part motionless in the field while one guy stands around at the plate. In this blog entry I will not even begin to argue the need for a salary cap in baseball or the fact that not having one makes 95 percent of all games played every year meaningless. Instead I will look at the other factors that make the sport a snooze fest.
There is no doubt that there are tens of thousands of hardcore baseball fans across this country such as Mr. Matthew Luke Sutton. They enjoy going to the games and keeping score and tracking every pitch. However, to rest of America baseball is boring. It is slow and lacks the fast pace of other professional sports such as a football and basketball. And as for watching baseball on television, those who can watch an entire game without dozing off are very special people. Working at the library is more exciting than sitting down for a three and a half hour midseason showdown between Marlins and Brewers. Just typing that made me sleepy.
We live in a time of constant stimulation, be it on computers, video games, television, etc. There are literally thousands of options for the average American to spend his or her time. Many, including myself, choose to spend many hours every year watching and attending sporting events. According to the Pew Research Center 46 percent of all adults and 47 percent of males consider themselves very or somewhat interested in sports. That’s great, but what does the research show for which sports are most popular you may ask? Well, according to Pew 34 percent of all adults follow football, 14 percent follow basketball and a whopping 13 percent are interested in “America’s Pastime.” That only beats out soccer, auto racing, golf, tennis, ice hockey and figure skating. This takes me back to my point: baseball just isn’t interesting to the average American (ie. Joe the Plumber).
I will not argue the fact that millions flock to at least one major league baseball game a season, me included. But that is mainly because of the amount of opportunities Americans get to see a baseball game. Let’s do the math, which I am admittedly not very good at. There are 30 teams in major league baseball today and each play a staggering and cumbersome 162-game schedule. That is 81 opportunities every summer to see the baseball team nearest you play at home or 2,430 games every season across the country. Too many games waters down the product and thus makes the majority of games every year boring. I still get a laugh when Sports Center catches a sleeping baseball fan at a handful of those games every year. And those are just the unlucky few who got caught.
I understand that there isn’t much going on in professional sports from about June through August. You are probably asking yourself what you are supposed to do during those 90 days to keep from suffering sports withdrawal. My answer is simple: do what I did two years ago and take up watching NASCAR. Twice the strategy, more than 100 times the movement and most importantly 1,000 times the excitement as baseball. I promise you if you give up four Sundays this spring or summer to watching NASCAR you will never again wonder who won the first game of a weekend doubleheader between the Orioles and Royals.

Sutton Argument:
I want to start off my argument from a fan's prospective. First, baseball is in the summer when there is nice weather and you want to be outside. George Carlin stated, when comparing football and baseball, "Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life. Football begins in the fall, when everything is dying." I am not going to spend my time knocking any other sport. Football, basketball, NASCAR, hockey, etc are all fine sports that I spend a great deal of time following, but not like baseball.
Anyway, back to my fan based argument. A baseball game is more like a big open bar then a sporting event. I remember a quote I read one time from Humphry Bogart about being at a baseball game. He said, "A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." It is the most enjoyable sporting event to attend. Ernie Harwell, in his book, "The Game for All America, stated, "Baseball? It's just a game--as simple as a ball and a bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolized. It's a sport, business--and sometimes even a religion." Carlin described a baseball game with the following, "In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness." For those of you who may argue that football is the most enjoyable sport to attend, let me remind you of how Carlin describe a football game, "In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being." It is just a nice comparison. Walt Whitman told people that "I see great things in baseball. It's our game--the American game. It 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." In trying to remember the exact words from Bogart's quote, I came across another quote that he gave that I will use to summarize a fan's experience at a baseball game. He said, "Y'know, you take your worries to the game, and you leave'em there. You yell like crazy for your guys. It's good for your lungs, gives you a lift and nobody calls the cops. Pretty girls, lots of 'em."
The science of the game is another reason that baseball is far superior to other sports. Ask anyone professional athlete in the world what the hardest thing in sports to do is and they will say 'hit a baseball.' In 2005, USA Today ranked the 10 Hardest Things to do in Sports and "Hitting a baseball" was number one. The rationale stated, "considering that a major-league pitch can reach speeds more than 95 mph, hitters have only 0.4 seconds to find the ball, decide where the ball is going and swing the bat." Joe Schultz was a player in the early to mid 1900. He described the difficulties in baseball by saying, "Well, boys, its a round ball and a round bat and you got to hit the ball square." Wes Westrum, a former player and coach, said, "Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." Mickey Mantle gave a wonderful quote that in essence summarizes the toughness of baseball. Mantle said, "During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at basts a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball."
One of the main arguments for baseball being the best sport ever is that it is truly a mental game. Baseball players don't have to be smart, but more so than any other sport, they have to be mentally tough. The great part about baseball is that it is full of situations. It is full of moments that define the sport. There are people say that baseball games are long and boring. They say it because they don't understand baseball. One error by the second baseman can turn a season from great to horrible. Red Barber, a former baseball broadcaster, put it this way, "Baseball is dull only to dull minds." Gabe Paul, who has been a general manager for several baseball teams, describe baseball with the following quote, "The great thing about baseball is that there's a crisis every day." Leo Durocher summed up the intensity of baseball with the following, "What are we at the park for except to win? I'd trip my mother. I'd help her up, brush her off, tell her I'm sorry. But mother don't make it to third."
My final point on this blog about the greatness of baseball is that inspires people, frankly it is a game for everyone. It is something that people can't do without. Stan Isaacs, once wrote about baseball in a Newday column. He wrote, "I do love the baseball that is in the heads of baseball fans. I love the dreams of glory of 10-year-olds, the reminiscences of the 70 year olds." Rogers Hornsby said, "People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Ted Williams once said, "Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game." Al Gallagher, a former player, described his love for baseball by saying, "There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem--once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit." Chuck Tanner, a former player and manager, summed up his love for baseball by stating, "The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league game. The second greatest feeling is to lose a major league game." A former sports journalist, Red Smith, claimed that "Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man have ever come to perfection." I sum up this argument with a wonderful quote from Herbert Paper, a noted historian, who said, "It is well to remember that a Martian observing his first baseball game would be quite correct in concluding that the last two words of the National Anthem are: PLAY BALL!"
I simply could go on and on, but if you know sports and love sports, then I don't need to go on, because you already know what I am talking about. Does baseball have some flaws, sure, but that is what makes it great. That despite some of it flaws, like the D.H., it is still the greatest game on earth, because it overcomes those flaws.
I have used a lot of quotes from others to support my argument for baseball. I did it because everything great about baseball has already been said and it supports those inherent believes that most of us already have. So I want to leave you with a quote to summarize my argument about the difference between baseball and the other sports. Bryant Gumbel summarized baseball in ten simple words,
"The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love."

We both would love to hear what you all think so let the comments fly.