Why do we love Baseball?

There should be a really great weekend in store for us all. I’ve always loved the 4th of July. I’ve always held it right up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should probably read my 4th of July post from a few years ago. It makes for good tradition. Obviously, I’ve grown up a lot since then. A few years later, I wrote this post about my favorite summer holiday.

If you’re American, and you’re wise, you’ll fill this weekend with what you should. Your friends, your family, some grilling, a few beers (have you seen the new Budweiser American Flag can?), a little golf if it doesn’t drive you nuts, some sunshine, and of course you should take in a baseball game or two. And you should do this because it’s our game as Americans. It’s everyone’s great American ballgame.

And for the last few days, I’ve been thinking about something. Why do we love Baseball? I asked this question on my twitter account, and here was some of the responses I received back:

@C70 The numbers. The length of the season. The lack of a clock. The history. The connections.

@C70 It’s really the beauty. Other team has to have a chance–can’t keep the ball and wimp your way to a win.

@CKFreshness I love baseball because 140 characters isn’t nearly enough to describe why I love baseball.

@nathansheets baseball is summer; it’s caps and beers; it’s chaotic distraction; it’s WLW broadcasts with my Dad. #whywelovebaseball

@NatiFan80 Hot baseball groupies….. And lord knows Cincinnati has lots of em #whywelovebaseball

@Jsquad34 love it bc it’s an under appreciated game from a skill level. And great to take woman to a game and have a beer. Fantasy2

@BravesLady4Life there’s no clock; no two games are ever the same; they play almost every day; i love the skill of hitting home runs

@BigSkiHa I love baseball bc it gives me something to have on while studying, also helps when the #Reds have a good squad on the field

@bravesincanada Baseball is the perfect sport to listen to on the radio. And even when you miss games, it’s still VERY interesting just looking at the recap and the stats!

@SostradamusSays I love baseball because for three hours, in my mind,nothing else in the world matters but the next pitch.

@Schroeder33 It’s the only sport and aspect of life where getting a hit or being a success 30% of the time makes you an all-star.

@GoldenSombrero I love baseball because you can fail miserably one day and have the opportunity to be a hero the very next day.

So there you have some of the responses of people out there.

There really isn’t any one thing that I can put a finger on why I am so addicted to this sport. On why I am so focused on revolving most of my spring and summer nights around some kind of first pitch, even if I promise myself that day that I won’t think about it.

It’s seeing those familiar names in a familiar place in the box score. It’s the thrill of seeing a big home run leave the yard. It’s fathers and sons and a bond they can somehow share. It’s the backdrop that a ballgame provides for a conversation when you’re at a game with friends. It’s the way that beer smells and tastes in an open air ballpark. It’s Hot Dogs and fantasy baseball lineups. It’s traditions and how it meshes time from one generation to the next. It’s the memories of my family and I watching the game. It’s the 1990 World Series victory when I was in downtown Cincinnati. It’s that I grew up with the roots of the game ingrained in my soul, whether I was playing, coaching, or umpiring. It’s the friendships I’ve made through the sport. It’s the places that it’s taken me to in my life. It’s the characters who play it. It’s the fact that just like life; no matter what happened the day before, you’re only a wake up away from a chance at redemption. It’s the statistics. It’s that the true cream rises to the top over the course of a season and a great week, month, or 9 innings do not define a man.

It’s so many more things than just one post on a blog can sum up. The season is at it’s finest point right now. Everyone is still playing. Everyone will be in action this 4th of July weekend. This is the height of our season, or sport, and our lives. You’ll never remember what happened in late April in a ballgame–or at least it won’t stand out like it will if someone does something huge on 4th of July weekend 2011 when you were grilling some burgers and drinking some beers in the company of some best friends. Trust me. Baseball just meshes with our lives like that.

And if you’re not going to any Major League games this weekend, go for a jog at a local little league park and take in an inning or two. It will make you smile, or laugh, or uplift your mood. It might just bring back a few memories or serve as a reminder of why you love the game of baseball.