You gotta love those 51 outs

I love baseball.

It’s our National pastime, y’know.

That first pitch. The crack of the bat. The roar of the crowd. Peanuts. Hot dogs. A cold beer. Sharing a frozen lemonade with the kids. Messing with “The Wave” by standing up after the crowd has passed.

I love baseball. Others do, too, in their own ways:

Matt has an excellent point, but, as I said, it is our National pastime. And there’s nothing like pulling up a chair and catching a ballgame to help relax the mind and body after a busy workday. Baseball’s a relaxation spot of choice for the Everyday Joe as well as celebrities:

Yes, the All-Star Game can be a meaningless exhibition of the sport, but it exudes summer … a summer night … the fact that you’re smack dab in the middle of summer. Doesn’t it? Baseball just feels right.

And there’s nothing like attending a real, live ballgame. Fan or otherwise, there’s something for everyone at the ball field. Those who say it’s boring don’t know the game. And that’s okay because — fan or otherwise — there’s something going on during a game each and every moment the players are on the field, or switching things up, or coming to the plate. Bored? Check out the JumboTron and catch a blooper reel or stat. Whoops! You just kicked over your Coke. Crank up that radio a little louder and listen to the blatherings of the local announcers …

… or the soothing, everything’s-gonna-be-all-right sound of Vin Scully’s pipes at a Dodger game, whether you’re planted in a chair at Chavez Ravine or tooling on down the highway, speakers blaring.

And truth be told, the All-Star contest isn’t that meaningless; the winner does garner home field advantage for the World Series show come October. There’s that.

I’m a diehard baseball fan. I bleed Dodger blue (a difficult thing to admit these days with the boys in the dumps and their management in chaos, but the polishing of the pitchforks, and the lighting of the torches, and the angry mobs is always good for the spirit); I don’t believe the American League is a real league (you send nine men onto the field, by golly those same nine men better go up to the plate); and the feel and smell and experience of being at a professional ball field has few equals:

It’s a good night when the National League takes the game as convincingly as they did last evening. Kind of puts things in perspective, if only for a few moments.

The thing about baseball is, it can change in the midst of a game in the mere blink of an eye:

Granted, it didn’t for the American League last eve, but you know … it could have. *snicker*

Look, do yourself a favor before you find summer suddenly a memory for another year: Get yourself to a ballgame. The convincing 5-1 win of the National League over the American League this year should at least give you an inkling of things still to come in the latter half of the season. There’s fun and excitement between the foul lines and in the stands at your local venue.

And the Cracker Jack is calling you. I promise.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Jul 13, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT