By BRENDAN HALL
Strike 1… Strike 2… Foul… Ball… Strike 3… You’re out.
Behold, 99 percent of every baseball game. No wonder it is America’s pastime.
Baseball is undoubtedly the most boring sport. The only time there is any excitement is when a player gets a hit or someone makes a great play, but even those are scarce. The majority of the time players are just standing around, waiting for the pitch that will probably whizz right by the batter, nothing happening.
It is obvious a sport is boring when the most exciting event in the sport is when nobody hits the ball or gets on base.
Plus, because of the difficulty of scoring a run, people actually have to endure the boredom over and over, with little results. Earlier this year a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets went to 20 innings- yes, 20 innings, six hours and 53 minutes of baseball- and its final score was only 2-1 Mets with the first run coming in the 19 inning.
The flare and enthusiasm of baseball crowds is meek compared to those of other sports. Just recently Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden threw the 19 perfect game in Major League Baseball history. As I switched channels from the roar and thunder of the more than 18,000 fans screaming in the Boston Garden as they cheered on their Celtics to the silence of Braden’s perfect game, I would never have guessed anything special was happening in Oakland. Even after Braden completed his perfect game, the 12,228 fans only gave up a meager cheer.
Even in a playoff atmosphere, baseball cannot compare to the excitement and energy generated at basketball or football games. Baseball fans go to games to hang out with friends, eat food, enjoy the mascot, and maybe glance at the game every once in a while; basketball, football, hockey fans go to be a part of the game.
Also, there are too many games in the baseball season at 160 for very many games to garner attention, unlike football with 16 or even basketball with 82. If a team loses the first six games, they have 156 to make up the deficit, no big deal. If a football team loses its first six games, its year is basically over. The lack of urgency in baseball for most of the season doesn’t give fans much of a reason to watch.
Baseball is the slower, less athletic sibling of professional sports. No matter how hard it tries, baseball will never be able to spur the same excitement as other sports.