Editors Note: I am blessed to have people around me who know
baseball a lot better than I do. As I learn to address and write about the game
I would like to give a special thanks to Ryan Crouch and the writer of this
article J.F. Trochez. Enjoy the guest column and I am excited to see more from
Mr. Trochez. If you have something to say about baseball or something else that I may not cover, please contact me at editor@jaketabor.com
-Jake
At the beginning of every (MLB) baseball season I jump and
rejoice in excitement for the start of a new season. It is a new opportunity to
enjoy all that is baseball: pitching milestones, batting accomplishments,
amazing infield work, wicked base running, home run and base-hit klepto
outfielders, trade rumors, walk-off wins, umpire/manager shouting matches,
bloopers, gaffes, injuries, farm system behemoth's making it to the show,
foreign acquisitions, blown saves, grand slams and the many other factors that
make baseball great.
With all these facets
it is no doubt you have to be a truly dedicated fan to keep track of the 2,431
regular season games that will shape the outcome of the playoffs.
Two-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirty-one! Are you kidding me!? Certainly a monstrosity
of a number in comparison to the 256 regular season NFL games or even the 684
Division I-A NCAA football games.* Yeah,
it's really not that easy being a die-hard baseball fan. Let's say, for instance, that you focus on
your division of baseball (typically 5 teams).
That means that as an avid fan you're tracking 405 games per season that
decide the outcome of a post-season berth.
Let's talk
stats. Another bargaining chip that
really scares people from being fans of baseball and probably the biggest
reason that most people don't like the game is the fact that there are stats
for everything, seriously, EVERYTHING!
A true fan will be
able to read a stat chart and be able to decipher the true value of that player
based on AVG, OPS, SLG, OBP, ERA, WHIP, FPCT and so on and so on....
Don't get me wrong...
I am in no way, shape or form calling anyone less of a fan because of your
particular taste of sport. My main gripe
is with the folks that don't have a respect for sportsmanship. I must admit, I have been guilty of
criticizing sports that I do not understand; to this day I have no idea what a
"wicked googly" is in cricket, nor do I have any interest in finding
out.
Bottom line being I
do not like hearing from other "sports fans" how long a baseball
season is or how boring a baseball game is.
There is a plain and simple solution to this: If you hear others talking
about baseball and your only opinion is a negative one then just keep your mouth
closed. However, if you really feel as
if you need to contribute to the conversation take the necessary time and learn
about the sport and you will enjoy it a whole lot more. I will now share with you a universal truth
that will help you the rest of your life: boring or lame to you can be interesting
and exciting to someone else - thus, don't call it boring!
I have made a concerted effort to learn more about
college football over the course of the last two years and feel as if I can
enjoy watching a game from time to time, as well as be able to contribute to a
relevant conversation when the opportunity calls for it. Even though it's not my sport of choice, I
can now have an off-season alternative in that sad and depressing time (for
baseball fans) between the end of the World Series and Spring Training.
As for the longevity
of the Season? Take a second look before
you talk trash. Football pre-season
starts in August and post-season ends in February -- 6 months; NBA and NHL seasons
both begin in October with the post-season ending in June -- 9 months! The MLB pre-season begins in March and
post-season wraps up in October -- 8 months.
Exactly, it's not as bad as you thought.
Fans of BLC, know
this: it's okay for some of us to like football and it is okay for some of us
to like baseball (and anything else).
But please, oh please, zip your yapper and quit running your mouth about
something that doesn't interest you and I promise to do the same.
J.F. Trochez
*Notes:
114 Division I-A NCAA football teams - Average 12 Game
season
32 NFL Teams - 16 Game season
30 MLB Teams - 162 Game season plus All-Star Game that
determines World Series home field advantage
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