MLB Opening Day 2011: Six Reasons to Be Excited That Baseball Is Back
One of the downsides of studying in the United Kingdom is that I’m subjected to a ridiculous amount of soccer. I only have room for one slow-tempo game in my life and that is baseball. Yet it is nowhere to be found here. So today, when I burst into a common room filled with soccer-loving Brits wearing my Mike Piazza jersey and yelling about Opening Day, I was facing a room of empty stares. “How can you get excited for that boring game?” one asked. I’m glad he did, because here are six reasons why I’m excited baseball is back.
The Story Lines
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This season is shaping up to be a great year in terms of milestones and stories—there are almost too many to count. Jeter goes for 3,000 hits, Thome for his 600th home run, Rivera for the saves record, Ichiro for the most 200-hit seasons, Pujols, A-Rod, Chipper, Pudge Rodriguez, and the list goes on. This is all without talking about the Phillies rotation, the Red Sox powerhouse, the new-look Brewers, the underdog Yankees, Manny being Manny and the reunion of Idiots, all of the amazing young arms in the league and Miguel Cabrera’s mug-shot.
Being a Full-Time Baseball Fan Again
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No other sport stimulates a fan more than baseball. 162 games over six months, and that’s not even counting spring training and the crown jewel—playoff baseball. Night after night stories are made and consumed, hashed and rehashed between friends, on the radio and on the Internet. Debates rage throughout the season about which player or team is the best, why a team is struggling, the historical relevance of a player or play, and of course (my personal favorite) why a certain player is a bum and should be traded. The baseball season is grueling for the players, but with all of the ups and downs, it can also be draining for a fan. However, you won’t find anyone passing up the ride anytime soon.
Fantasy Baseball
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In case following one team like a regular fan is not enough, there’s always fantasy baseball! The greatest game invented since baseball allows fans to branch out from their own team and really come to know the entire league (or in many cases, both leagues). Nothing is more thrilling than finally pulling off a trade for a player you desperately wanted or finding the next big rookie or breakout player on the waiver wire. It gives you a daily reason to keep watching baseball on a night where your team is already down 10-0 in the fourth or after your team has been eliminated from title contention in early September. It brings you closer to the game, and who doesn’t love a little friendly competition?
Hope Springs Eternal
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A new season means that each team starts off with the same record; anything can happen. Winter juggernauts can find their teams don’t function as well on the field as they do on paper, and supposed stragglers can find that their team has a certain chemistry that defies the odds and just wins. Opening Day breeds optimism and can have fans dreaming the craziest things—like the Mets somehow making it to the playoffs.
Baseball Stadiums
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There is nothing better than spending the afternoon or a summer night at the ballpark watching your favorite team. There is something special about taking in a game with friends or loved ones while enjoying a ballpark hot dog and beer. The sights, the sounds, the energy from the crowd—it is the perfect recipe for a good time.
Baseball Is Just a Beautiful Game
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It’s hard to watch Pujols swing the bat, Halladay cut through a lineup, Reyes glide into third with a triple or Crawford run down balls in the outfield and not say that baseball is a beautiful game. Every day there are amazing plays being made; every home run, strikeout, diving catch and even sacrifice bunt are testaments to the human body and its amazing sense of coordination and precision. And for someone as un-athletic and uncoordinated as me, after sitting through a horrid winter I’m ready to finally watch something beautiful.
