Why I love baseball

I've been asked the question many, many times. Why do I love baseball. But it's difficult to answer in a concrete way. There's just so much to love about the game, and it all fits together like a puzzle. So any answer I could give should be considered woefully incomplete by virtue of the impossibility to be precise in this regard.

But here are some of the key tenets...

The sacrifice and the truest team sport
My most favorite thing about baseball is the sacrifice. In what other sport can you purposely do something wrong for yourself, but good for the team, and have it not count against you statistically? Baseball is one of the most statistics oriented sports ever devised by man, but you can lay down your statistical reputation for the sake of your team, yet no one -- not even the statistician -- holds it against you. I just don't think there's a better way to instill the value of the team endeavor.

Additionally, very rarely does having the best player in the sport on your team assure any sort of enduring success. I feel baseball is the truest team sport. Who would argue that Albert Pujols is not currently one of if not the best players in baseball? His team? Swept from the first round of the playoffs. We've seen it time and again.

The venues
I just love that each and every baseball venue, while the same in essential dimensions, offers a unique experience up to both the player and the fan. I've been in many football, hockey, and basketball venues, and there simply aren't enough differences (and we're not talking amenities) in the experience to put them on the same level as baseball venues.

The history
I won't say much about this, as it is largely self-evident. Pick up any good baseball book and you'll find an unbelievably rich history from which to draw inspiration. I received this book for my birthday this year, and I have to say it is rather amazing. Even my thirteen year old daughter loves this book.

It's not over 'til it's over
Like Oklahoma weather, everything can change in an instant. And there is no running down the clock, because there is no clock. It's over when it's over. It's done when we're finished playing. And there are no ties (well, except that one time, which was ridiculous). Down to the last strike, of the last out, of the last inning, of the last game in the season and then some, no outcome is certain. I don't know of another sport where in the very last second of the game you can be behind by an insurmountable sum, but where a single act can turn everything around. The ninth-inning comeback is simply unparalleled in sports in my opinion.

There is almost no better example of this than what happened last night.

As Mr. Stark so aptly put it, "The magic is in the moment". And I couldn't agree more.