A strange thing happened after the Super Bowl ended. That weird thing was that I didn't care about the result, I didn't care about the Patriots winning a 6th super bowl, Brady and Belichick further cementing their GOAT-ness (Honestly, I'm fine bestowing that on Belichick, but will go to my grave knowing Peyton was better than Brady. Anyway, I'm getting off topic). I didn't care. Part of it is being on a very busy project that sends me nicely out of the country to Canada, where the Super Bowl is a curiosity, not a world-changing event. Some of it is also how absolutely dreadful that game was. But really, it is because I've come to accept that post-Peyton's retirement, I am just not as big a football fan anymore. And with that comes the logical conclusion of this line of thinking: pitchers and catchers report in two weeks.
The Astros are reporting in two weeks. The multitude of Astros I follow on Instagram can't stop telling me that with their excited posts. There is a certain poetical nature around Spring Training which has existed ever since writers started covering baseball. I'm pretty sure at some point in this blog's ten years I too tried to write about it. I've never felt it as acutely as this year.
Part of it is unfinished business. The Astros were just as good as the Red Sox last year, but lost because the Red Sox clustered their hits way better in the ALCS than the Astros did (the Astros had a better OBP and SLG in the ALCS than Boston did). The Astros did this despite having a gimpy Carlos Correa, a hampered Jose Altuve, and a bullpen that imploded. Some of those things may happen this year. Likely they won't, and in Spring, likely gets easily turned into certainty, a certainty fueled by belief.
Spring Training. It's beautiful. It's perfect, a way to escape the long, cold winter, with a breath of fresh air. There are so few nice traditions left in American sports that are left somewhat unchanged, but Spring Training, with its annual reports of the gut 'in the best shape of his life' or the guy 'with a newfound passion for the game' and all the rest. While the coldness of the NFL continues to eat away at my once endless interest in that game, the promise of Spring, a rooting for a team that has good a chance as any at winning the World Series, helps me grow my interest in baseball.
I love certain aspects of all sports, certainly baseball has its unique qualities that are so delightful. My favorite though has always been how endless and everpresent the game feel, starting in Winter, ending in Fall, a constant part of your life during the fun months. The winter aspect was usually somewhat overrated, but now, there is a real sense to it. The sense of joy, of boundless joy, about your game coming back.
As the years go on, the aspects that appeal to me most about baseball are starting to become more and more appealing. The statistical bent. The ridiculously sharp and witty online community. The small subtleties about the game. The endless nature of a sport that is just on, always and always, for 180 days. The need to check your fantasy team daily. The growth and development aspect of the prospects. The sport has never been stronger, even if people will go on and on about the slow pace or the number of homers or strikeouts, or on and on and on.
Baseball is a beautiful game, never more so when you need to turn the page as quick as possible from football, when you need something else to obsess over, but something that gives you 162 opportunities to feel a fleeting sense of happiness, not just 16. I won't say that baseball has eclipsed football as my favorite game (and let's not put over hockey here, which is #3 by an infinitesimally small margin), but at this moment, when I want to escape from what most of the sports world is talking about, focusing on this beautiful game we call baseball is the best gift of all.
The Astros are reporting in two weeks. The multitude of Astros I follow on Instagram can't stop telling me that with their excited posts. There is a certain poetical nature around Spring Training which has existed ever since writers started covering baseball. I'm pretty sure at some point in this blog's ten years I too tried to write about it. I've never felt it as acutely as this year.
Part of it is unfinished business. The Astros were just as good as the Red Sox last year, but lost because the Red Sox clustered their hits way better in the ALCS than the Astros did (the Astros had a better OBP and SLG in the ALCS than Boston did). The Astros did this despite having a gimpy Carlos Correa, a hampered Jose Altuve, and a bullpen that imploded. Some of those things may happen this year. Likely they won't, and in Spring, likely gets easily turned into certainty, a certainty fueled by belief.
Spring Training. It's beautiful. It's perfect, a way to escape the long, cold winter, with a breath of fresh air. There are so few nice traditions left in American sports that are left somewhat unchanged, but Spring Training, with its annual reports of the gut 'in the best shape of his life' or the guy 'with a newfound passion for the game' and all the rest. While the coldness of the NFL continues to eat away at my once endless interest in that game, the promise of Spring, a rooting for a team that has good a chance as any at winning the World Series, helps me grow my interest in baseball.
I love certain aspects of all sports, certainly baseball has its unique qualities that are so delightful. My favorite though has always been how endless and everpresent the game feel, starting in Winter, ending in Fall, a constant part of your life during the fun months. The winter aspect was usually somewhat overrated, but now, there is a real sense to it. The sense of joy, of boundless joy, about your game coming back.
As the years go on, the aspects that appeal to me most about baseball are starting to become more and more appealing. The statistical bent. The ridiculously sharp and witty online community. The small subtleties about the game. The endless nature of a sport that is just on, always and always, for 180 days. The need to check your fantasy team daily. The growth and development aspect of the prospects. The sport has never been stronger, even if people will go on and on about the slow pace or the number of homers or strikeouts, or on and on and on.
Baseball is a beautiful game, never more so when you need to turn the page as quick as possible from football, when you need something else to obsess over, but something that gives you 162 opportunities to feel a fleeting sense of happiness, not just 16. I won't say that baseball has eclipsed football as my favorite game (and let's not put over hockey here, which is #3 by an infinitesimally small margin), but at this moment, when I want to escape from what most of the sports world is talking about, focusing on this beautiful game we call baseball is the best gift of all.
