I recently asked Facebook friends why they like baseball. Their answers came at me like 95-mph fastball, including this one from a high-school classmate, Vance Law, who played in the major leagues: “Entering a dugout just before the game and hearing the hum of the crowd, the smell of pine tar mixed with rosin on your bat, the manicured green grass, hearing the crack of the bat connecting with the ball, the pranks that teammates play on each other even as grown men are all memories etched into my mind.”
You don’t have to be a professional athlete to love the game. Cherished childhood memories tuck themselves into our hearts and follow us into adulthood, as the following responses from Facebook friends demonstrate:
Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw dives for a ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers' Austin Barnes during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Los Angeles. Barnes was thrown out at first on the play. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
• “My grandparents had season tickets to the Angels games and they took turns taking us with them. I loved going and getting some one-on-one attention.”
• “Some of my favorite childhood memories are of going to games at Derks Field and then watching my dad play in the city league in Logan.”
The game’s leisurely pace is another reason fans love the game.
• “You can start the laundry, put it in the dryer and get it folded during a nine-inning game without ever missing anything.”
Oh! And did we mention atmosphere?
• Baseball is “a summer evening outside. A game slow enough for conversations in the bleachers. Fast enough to get you out of your seat jumping up and down. Communal singing. Hot dogs, peanuts, beer, snow cones and ice cream.”
Baseball also connects generations.
• “I loved watching all six of my kids play. And my mom could swing a mean bat (at a ball), too. She taught me how to play.”
• Baseball “feels like an American tradition in ways football and basketball do not, even though they all originated here. Going to a baseball game feels somehow more lighthearted and family-friendly, perhaps because there is less actual physical violence.”
• “My dad and I talk about the games and team (go, Giants!). I can even talk to my grandmother about the games, too.”
San Francisco Giants' Hunter Pence hits the fence as a home run by Arizona Diamondbacks' Daniel Descalso clears it during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
And then (well, hello there!) we have the players themselves.
• “The athletes have great bodies. I like that look.”
• “I just like watching Bryce Harper. He has great hair, plus he is so good.”
• “To be totally honest, I have always enjoyed watching those tight athletic backsides in action! However, today’s uniforms are a little too baggy for my liking.”
Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper looks on in the dugout before a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, July 27, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Oh, yeah. There’s the game itself.
• “There’s a level of strategy and anticipation with every pitch — almost like chess. What if he hits the ball here? Is there a runner on base? Who’s covering second? Where do I need to throw the ball?”
Which brings us to the subject of statistics. Stats!
• “I love the math behind it (I’m such a nerd). I grew up playing, watching and keeping score.”
You know what I think? Baseball, more than any other sport, speaks to the poet in us all.
• “It’s all about numbers and stats and has nothing to do with numbers and stats. [It’s] probably most about a team that stole your heart, broke it over and over, then filled you with love for them again. It’s a diversion, a trifle and the most emotionally draining part of every day. Go Twins!”
What do YOU love about baseball?
Ann Cannon can be reached at acannon@sltrib.com or facebook.com/anncannontrib.
Baseball book event
If stats are your thing, then check out Jay Jaffe’s “The Cooperstown Casebook: Who’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Who Should Be In, and Who Should Pack their Plaques.” Jaffe is a well-known baseball blogger, writer, commentator and creator of the JAWS system, which offers a clear-eyed analytical approach to evaluating the performances of players past and present. Jaffe is a former resident of Salt Lake City who graduated from East High School in 1988.
He’ll be in town, speaking about his book at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) on Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. For more details, call the store at 801-484-9100 or visit www.kingsenglish.com.
