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Subject: Why baseball is America's pastime Posted by: COAST2COAST - [23625310] Sat, Apr 07, 10:55 So my son says to me, "Dad, why is baseball called America's pastime?" It gave me great moments of pause before the old noggin started rambling out reason after reason. 1. Opening Day 2. Tradition like no other sport 3. Wooden bats 4. _____, apple pie and Chevrolet 5. "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" 6. Wrigley Field 7. The Green Monster 8. The Yankees 9. Pine tar 10. $252M contracts 11. A Pete Rose-less Hall of Fame ;) 12. Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, et al 13. Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Harry Carey, et al 14. No technical fouls 15. No icing 16. No red card 17. No clock 18. No instant replay 19. No penalty box 20. No ties 21. The men in blue 22. Even the mangers wear a uniform 23. "Randro" 24. St. Louis' fans 25. Unbalanced schedules....finally! 26. Doubleheaders (although there is only one scheduled at this time) Didn't there used to be a lot more? 27. Pennant Races 28. Long homestands 29. The Philly Phanatic, et al 30. Madman ;) 31. Tom Lasorda, Red Schoedienst, Walter Alston Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, et al 32. #42 The list can go on and on but I'll stop here. Can you assist with my son's education? In your opinion why is baseball America's pastime? | ||||||
| 1 | Ender ID: 13443221 Sat, Apr 07, 11:07 |
It has permanently altered our culture and language. The American version of the English language is littered with baseball-isms: It aint over 'til it's over - Yogi Berra Way out in left field started because spectators (kids mainly) would be disappointed if they went to see Babe Ruth play and did not get to sit in right field where they had a much better chance of catching a homerun. I know there are many others, but I've only been awake for a little while :) | |||||
| 2 | Madman ID: 29246911 Sat, Apr 07, 11:20 |
LOL, C2C! Your #30 cracked me up. The tradition aspect is the strongest reason, IMO. Various forms of baseball date back to the beginnings of this country. Honestly, however, I think baseball is the national pasttime because of the community baseball teams and barnstorming leagues that were prevalent up through the 50s. Coal miners would get together for the Sunday game. In fact, if you read about how Toe Nash was found, it brought this aspect of baseball lore into the foreground again for me. IIRC, he was found playing on a community team down in Louisiana or something. So it's still out there. It's the weekly softball leagues we play. It's the local little league system. The local Legion team. Etc. Over the last 30 years, other sports have risen, dwindling the supremacy of baseball as the national pasttime. Many have argued that this is because of mismanagement of the MLB. To some extent this is true. But on a more fundamental level, the erosion of baseball as a national pasttime started to occur with the invention of air conditioning (people used to go lounge around outside to get cool. Why not play a pick up game of baseball while you're at it?), TV (baseball isn't the greatest TV sport), plastics (allowing football to lose its brutal image with the improvements in helmets and padding), urbanization (packing people in tightly tends to decrease the attractiveness of baseball relative to basketball and other sports, maybe), and a variety of other cool gizmos and things. Baseball is about lazy summer afternoons when you are off from school. It was lucky enough to capture the prime recreational season of our culture. And thus it will always play a role in our society. | |||||
| 3 | Guancous ID: 352132421 Sat, Apr 07, 11:44 | Baseball is sweet because it is the only sport where one person cannot take over. I'm not saying that A-Rod and the Rangers won't rebound, but a great player can only make a five game difference. It's great how the pitcher/battle matchup is so individual and the rest of the game is so team-oriented. | |||||
| 4 | Wammie ID: 437541618 Sat, Apr 07, 12:17 | Because when you are a kid, you can play baseball from morning to night. no innings, no stats, no score. just baseball to play baseball. | |||||
| 6 | Gary ID: 381157822 Sat, Apr 07, 12:26 |
It helped to make my bike go "click click click" It helped to mend fences between enemies. It brought friends together even when they are half way across the country. It promoted friendly compitition between father and son (I was a Cubs fan then Braves fan while my Dad was a diehard Yankee fan) It is a game almost anyone can learn and play. There are players you love to hate and players you just plain love. Gary | |||||
| 7 | Sandlot ID: 5343219 Sat, Apr 07, 12:48 |
The suicide squeeze Eddie Gaedel Card flipping and trading Hard pink gum that in spite of yourself, you'd still pop into your mouth Dodgers vs. Giants No-hitters The chase for .400 Cal Ripken's magical trot around Camden Yards Chris Berman shutting his mouth during said trot Cooperstown Brushback pitches God, I love this game | |||||
| 8 | Aint the Beer Cold ID: 58348216 Sat, Apr 07, 13:47 | Because a man who looks like David Wells can be compete with a man who looks like Derek Jeter and win. | |||||
| 9 | yo Dilbert ID: 331341410 Sat, Apr 07, 20:07 | "90 feet between bases is closest mankind has ever come to perfection." -- think it was George Will but he may have been quoting someone else. | |||||
| 10 | swami ID: 57222422 Sat, Apr 07, 20:50 |
Elimintate #8!! I'll add... game 7 game 6 game 5 game 4 game 3 game 2 game 1 | |||||
| 11 | Strike One ID: 39252299 Sat, Apr 07, 21:06 | -it's so simple yet so complex | |||||
| 12 | The Beezer ID: 191202817 Sat, Apr 07, 21:20 |
Talking about how much the DH sucks Dizzy Dean Alomar and Vizquel on the 4-6-3 DP Bo Jackson running up the wall to make a catch John Kruk Doughnuts (Ever seen Dan Marino slip an extra 5 pounds on the ball in warmups?) Cub fans in the right-field bleachers, and on the rooftops behind Wrigley Whitey Herzog Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, and APBA Roberto Clemente The fact that you can say 56, 70, .406, and 383 and people know what you're talking about AND The Curse of the Bambino | |||||
| 13 | KrazyKoalaBears ID: 51521713 Sat, Apr 07, 21:49 |
There is a such thing as The Perfect Game. Something so "simple" as 40/40 is so hard to attain. The physics behind getting something with the diameter of a bat to connect with something the diameter of a ball going 90 MPH with 60+ feet of "warning". The fans get to keep the balls. The sorting of baseball cards, but never getting a complete set and never really wanting one because it would mean and end to the sorting. Seeing my dad, a man who never watched sports of any kind, get emotional over Mark McGwire's 62nd. | |||||
| 14 | Destiny's Chico ID: 57251510 Sat, Apr 07, 22:09 | C'mon guys -- Fantasy Baseball! | |||||
| 15 | Baldwin ID: 23311413 Sat, Apr 07, 22:17 |
The smell of Beer, cigarette smoke and grilled food. The first time you saw that perfect green grass in person. | |||||
| 16 | James K Polk ID: 4211362123 Sun, Apr 08, 00:23 |
Don't know how many of you are X-Files fans, but there was a fantastic baseball-themed ep called "The Unnatural" a while back that had a couple great lines ... ON BOX SCORES: "It distills all the chaos and action of any game in the history of all baseball games into one tiny, perfect, rectangular sequence of numbers. I can look at this box and I can recreate exactly what happened on some sunny summer day back in 1947. It's like the numbers talk to me, they comfort me. They tell me that even though lots of things can change, some things do remain the same." ON PERFECTION: "First unnecessary thing I ever done in my life and I fell in love. I didn't know the unnecessary could feel so good. You know, the game was meaningless, but it seemed to mean everything to me. It was useless, but perfect." | |||||
| 17 | slosh23 ID: 2531523 Sun, Apr 08, 02:41 | Major League baseball is great because of its minor league. No other sport gives a chance to its fans to see the next star for 5 dollars. Even now I remember watching stars to be at a small park in Lynchburg, Va (A large portion of the '86 mets came through Lburg). There is nothing like going to a minor league game and seeing players that just want to play because they love the game. There is not another sport that gives the fan a chance to see players even in these days of high salaries giving it their all. | |||||
| 18 | popgun ID: 501261314 Sun, Apr 08, 09:14 | To the list of names already listed (and appreciated), I could add so many...but definitely Branch and Jackie. My baseball roots go back to pre-TV days - raised on boxscores, scratchy radio broadcasts, an occasional trip to see the Des Moines Bruins (Cubs, Class A Western League), and truly countless hours spent playing and talkin' ball on the schoolyards, backyards, pastures and streets of rural 40s and 50s Iowa. Could go on and on...but will stop there. Much of my feelings have already been well-expressed. Thanks for another fine thread. | |||||
| 19 | Catfish ID: 20557322 Sun, Apr 08, 09:25 |
Great post, Mr. President. Three of my faves: "I love baseball, you know it doesn't have to mean anything, it's just very beautiful to watch." -- Woody Allen in Zelig "It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. Today, October 2, a Sunday of rain and broken branches and leaf-clogged drains and slick streets, it stopped, and summer was gone." -- Bart Giamatti ' "Name me a more perfect game! Name me a game with more possibilities for magic, wizardry, voodoo, hoodoo, enchantment, obsession, possession. There's always time for daydreaming, time to create your own illusions at the ballpark. ... " ... And the field runs to infinity," he would shout, gesturing wildly. "You ever think of that, Gid? There's no limit to how far a man might possibly hit a ball, and there's no limit to how far a fleet outfielder might run to retrieve it. The foul lines run on forever, forever diverging. There's no place in America that's not part of a major-league ballfield: the meanest ghetto, the highest point of land, the Great Lakes, the Colorado River. Hell, there's no place in the world that's not part of a baseball field." ' -- WP Kinsella in The Iowa Baseball Confederacy | |||||
| 20 | KrazyKoalaBears ID: 51521713 Sun, Apr 08, 09:49 |
slosh, $5? I remember when I was a kid, you could go to the local convienience store and get a ticket to that night's game for FREE!!! Of course, that was single A, but I still got to see some future stars. The minors in baseball ARE great. A player's future isn't determined by one draft. They can play their way through the minors and still have a chance to get noticed. Gotta love it! | |||||
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