Baseball is the best for casual enjoyment

TAKE ME OUT . . . TO THE BALLGAME?

Baseball is, in my professional opinion, one of the best sports to watch casually. Let me set the scene for you: it’s a beautiful spring day. Overcast but warm, with an occasional cool breeze. Hot dogs are grilling, you grab a ballpark pickle or maybe some boiled peanuts from the concessions stand.

It’s a perfect day for baseball.

Baseball maybe isn’t the most thrilling of sports, for sure. There can be boring games where not much happens, and every inning is a stalemate. But then, there’s those golden moments where the bases are loaded, and you’re down by three in the eighth inning, and that pinch hitter comes up and saves the game with a hit to centerfield that nobody catches.

The crowd goes crazy, and your team wins. It’s a joyous occasion.

Besides, what’s fun about watching basketball? They run back and forth on the court and push each other and then get mad when it’s a foul. Cool, they got a dunk or whatever, but that’s going to happen 10 more times throughout the game. A home run though? That’s unlikely even once in a game.

I have to admire the technical skill and prowess of baseball players. There are so many elements to the game that must be taken into consideration. Do they steal? Do they bunt? What pitch should they throw? Which runner should they tag?

I’m sure basketball takes skill too, but I just don’t see it as easily.

Besides, baseball’s rules are the easiest to understand of any sport. Strikes, balls, fouls, outs, innings. It’s simple. Football and basketball? I’m lost. Soccer? I don’t even know where the ball is half the time.

Don’t get me started on golf, ugh.

The atmosphere of a ballpark is so much more relaxed than any other sport. It’s casual viewing. Of course, it’s still competitive, and everyone loves to see the coach fight with the umps every once in a while, but we’re not constantly screaming like at football or basketball games.

And baseball has fun hecklers and chants. You can’t really do that in a loud, hostile setting.

Whenever I choose to go to a baseball game, it’s because I want to have a good time and enjoy a leisurely afternoon. A football game is an all-day affair that I must get dressed up, sweaty, sunburnt and bored for, and basketball is just . . . boring.

My point stands, baseball is a fun and laid-back sport to watch and enjoy. Anyone who says otherwise . . . YOU’RE OUT!