It’s no wonder that Baseball is America’s national past time. If you believe that America is truly the land of opportunity then the game of Baseball explains a lot about who we are as Americans and what we value. Come to think of it, Baseball also should be the “national past time” of Canada, all of Western Europe, France especially, and all of the countries that make up the entire free world.
The fact is that there are some interesting things about baseball that you probably never noticed that correspond to our needs as free people, our way of life and to everything we aspire.
When you consider how it is played, Baseball seems to have been designed precisely by our Founding Fathers, or at least by seasoned politicians with good intentions.
In case you don’t believe me, here’s what I’m talking about.
All are created equal
Baseball requires you to be neither tall nor fast, nor muscular, nor supremely fit. If you hit well, throw well, or have other skills, who cares whether you are a “natural athlete”? There is running involved, but only so much.
Baseball is a pretty diverse game, with players from everywhere of various skill sets. Many of the best come from poor, politically unstable countries. I have seen guys at the amateur level who don’t look the least bit athletic hit the ball out of the park against the most fit pitcher. And we’ve all seen women who are better than most men on the field.
At the pro level, chunky guys from David Wells to Carlos Zambrano have successfully played at the top level, not to mention players with a terrible sense of style like the mullet clad Randy Johnson. Babe Ruth wasn’t very fit or pretty either.
Pedigree might work for thoroughbreds, but it doesn’t hold a dime’s value in Baseball.
Everyone gets their turn.
What other team sport gives everyone a chance to hit the ball. If you are playing Basketball or Soccer, you’d better be fortunate enough to have someone pass the ball to you. Screw up once and you reduce your chances of that in the future. But in Baseball, you get your share of quality time with the ball. Every one gets an at-bat.
To sweeten the deal, everyone gets several chances. Like cats, you have nine lives if you’re swinging a bat in a baseball game, with nine innings to play for. You may not get to bat in all nine, but you’ll get a few chances at least. If you can’t hit the ball in nine innings, then I guess you weren’t cut out for this. At least not today, pal.
Ground level entry.
In America, families tend to get their little ones involved in the socializing activity of “team sports” with Baseball as the first proving ground. Little kids play the version know as Tee Ball, which doesn’t involve the complications of hitting a moving ball, just one sitting on a tee when you are ready. We adults, with our bad knees and spare tires play “Slow Pitch Softball” or “Baseball for Crusty Old People”.
With increasing comfort, you can ease into a life long pursuit in this past time if you so choose. No matter what level of skill you acquire, if any, you can still enjoy the game for fun.
Other sports aren’t so kind to the beginner or amateur. With Hockey, you need to learn to skate first.
Everyone has their own free space.
Most sports have positions, which are generally nothing more than titles, like in the business world.
In Basketball, positions have certain functions that are predicated mostly on size, shape and speed. Your center is the big guy, and your point guard is your short, fast guy. The others fall in between, but if you are lucky to have Michael Jordan on your team, then you have a shooting guard.
In Rugby, positions are an absolute joke. Same with Golf.
But in Baseball you get not just title but your get your own territory. Outfielders get the most territory, which they need for fielding hit balls from an opposing batter. Sort of like goal keepers in Hockey, Soccer or Lacrosse except that there are three of them doing this job.
Pitchers get a pedestal to go with theirs. So do catchers except that they must share a little of their real estate with the umpire. Infielders get their own smaller space too, but get to guard the bases, which is a pivotal locum of power in the game.
What this points to, is that we claim our territory not only when it comes to our home, the car we drive (and where we park it), but where we stand, run and play in recreational games. And we love this part of it.
Free speech
In Baseball, you talk it up all you want. Usually you talk dirt about the batter to distract him. Try that in Basketball, you’ll get a technical foul and give points to the other team. In Soccer, what the world calls Football, you will get either a red card or get head butted in the chest (see World Cup ’06).
To get thrown out in Baseball requires the extreme. You have to spit and kick dirt at the umpire.
What else?
Back to France (yes, I was serious about this). The French actually invented the liberté, fraternité, egalité that our US Constitution was founded upon. Sorry to say, we stole it from the French.
But give the French a chance. So they have an attitude problem and hate everything that Americans like. I bet they’ve got a pretty good swinging arm thanks to those baguette thingies they’re always carrying around.
But for now, the French national past time will continue to be wearing a beret while smoking.
India, a former pseudo-socialist country that doesn’t know Baseball is crazy about Cricket. Cricket is a sort of tedious, bureaucratic, longer version of Baseball, in which the matches go on sometimes for three days. Don’t blame the Indians for their national pastime. You can blame both colonization and the British.
The Irish play Celtic Football, which is like Rugby but with a soccer ball. Some might wonder if they know the difference between one ball and another, or care.
And Pakistan’s national past time is field hockey. Pakistan’s team is so good at it that they have won the Olympic Gold. Don’t tell them that this is a women’s sport.
Thus, since you can’t force democracy on the world, other countries will have their own national past time. But we can try.
In life, we often strive for more to “get ahead”. We may move to gather up more room for our nest. We might build a McMansion with a big yard. Then we extend the nest with swimming pools and big outdoor toys.
But when you come right down to it, all we need is a chance to play and maybe just a little bit of personal space. People everywhere, not just in America, basically want the same things. And for that, Baseball is one game that gives you all you need.
Enjoy the Series, Go Phils.
Frye
Frye’s blog and other musings are up at MySportsComplex.Blogspot.com and Facebook. Watch out for swinging baguettes.
No comments:
Post a Comment