Why I Like Baseball Redux

Some people made their own suggestions and took issue with some of my own reasons for loving baseball, so I will add:

- Triples
- Tim Wakefield. The delivery, the fluttering knuckleball, and his chill demeanor.

Someone else mentioned the fact that ball parks are like America's cathedrals. Not being religious at all, I'd have to agree. I got the same feeling walking into Yankee Stadium for the first time (and I hate the Yankees) as I did walking into Notre Dame in Paris for the first time. Hush and awe.

And this got me thinking what about the game itself is so compelling. It's the idea that each pitch is so dramatic and represents... anything. Detractors decry the slow pace of baseball, but to me, that only adds to the drama. A guy steps into the box, the pitcher takes the sign and sets. He starts the wind-up and tension builds, more and more. He ball leaves his hand. Will it be a strike or a ball? Will he swing or take? Crack! Fair or foul? Grounder or fly ball? At a fielder or a gap? All of this in milliseconds and it starts all over again. It's maddening and wonderful. Like the momentary pause at the top of a roller coaster hill; the lean-in and nanosecond before lips touch in a first kiss; the split second before your mouth closes on that slice of pizza. The anticipation of these moments is almost more than you can handle -- even better than the moment itself. The difference is after you've gone down the hill and you've kissed those lips and you've eaten two slices of pizza already, there's nothing else to anticipate. But in baseball, there's always another pitch coming and your heart is racing and you want to vomit all over again.