Finally.
I was listening to some fans talk about baseball the other day, and BOOM!, an epiphany smacked me in my consciousness.
I’ve always liked the game a little. Watching kids play. Playing an informal game myself with some friends. But the great popularity of professional baseball has always escaped me. I now know the reason for it.
Fans are not goal oriented. Not primarily. Sure, they want their team to win, but that’s not really what it’s all about. They want something to talk about with their buddies. There’s a sense of comradarie in fandom that’s hard for men to get any other way, and there are so many games that they have a lot to talk about.
Here’s a sample discussion between me and a fan.
Me: Mornin’, Bob. How’s it goin’?
Fan (Bob): Hey, George. How 'bout them A’s?
Me: Huh?
Fan: UM, er, well, See ya later, dude. Have a good one.
Me: See ya Bob. Take it easy.
Fan: I’ll take it any way I can get it. (Wink wink. Grin.)
Me: All right, Bob. (Grinning back.)
Peace,
mangeorge (Kinda slow on the uptake.)
Hmmmmmmm
I think it has something to do with its “slow” pace (as compared to, let’s say, football. Before I understood it, I found it “boring.” OK, so I don’t understand it all just yet, but I do love to say, “Hey, how 'bout those Indians?”
Oh, and it’s fun to do one’s nails while watching a game.
In Baseball the ball is in possession of the defense!
I never thought about it until the documentary on it…
If someone bats .300 they are supposed to be GREAT!
At the same time, it means they strike out 7 out of 10 times.
Baseball isn’t about winning. It’s about losing graciously.
Oops, I forgot! Cool sig, btw.
You don’t have to strike out all those seven times.
-You might get thrown out at first, allowing the runner to score from third.
-A deep fly to the outfield allows runners to score or advance to scoring position.
Your individual statistical failure still contributes to the team’s effort and victory. That is one of the coolest things about baseball.
So Baseball’s popular because it’s popular? That’s one helluva paradox you got their, Mangeorge.
Stop it, you’re making my head hurt
In baseball the object is to go home. We all want to go home, especially after watching a baseball game starting at 11 pm.
SPOOFE Bo Diddly offered;
So Baseball’s popular because it’s popular?
No, SPOOFE, that’s not what I said.
Well, maybe that is what I said. But it’s not what I meant. 
The object of baseball is simplicity itself.
You hit a ball with a stick, then run as far toward home as you can before somebody either touches you with it or grabs it outta the air. That’s about it.
The essence of baseball is much more. It’s the endless discussion of all the foofera involved in attaining that goal.
BTW; EVERYTHING belongs to the defense. Except maybe the batters helmet.
Peace,
mangeorge ('smatter with the bolding feature?)
Sport has never interested me. Team sports especially, in any capacity.
It appears to me to be a bunch of people running after a ball. I think every single team sport involves ball-chasing in some way. This, in itself, is to me uninteresting.
Then there’s the local team support. We all like to hear of ‘our team’ defeating ‘those other guys’. But what makes that absurd is what was originally ‘pitching the best of our local boys against the best of their local boys to see who are the better team’ has turned into ‘who can offer the most money to entice the best players in the world to be on our team’. So it misses the whole point of ‘local’ teams.
And then there’s all the stuff that fans love to talk about. Stats, scores, players, plays, games, controversies, etc… and though the subject matter doesn’t interest me, I can at least see what the attraction is of that. Because though I’d be referring to a totally different subject (Star Wars, Disney animation, 3D Graphics) I love to talk shop as much as the next guy.
So I reckon mangeorge is exactly right.
Baseball was tailored for the Yogi Berras of the world. That is, would-be philosophers who spend way too much time in the hot summer sun. That, to me, is its quintessence. No other sport could have/ever will produce a Yogi Berra:
“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”
“If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop 'em.”
I think part of the reason I like baseball is that it’s something I can share with a lot of people. In that same sense, I enjoy trivia and the SDMB and other sports . . . I would not enjoy any of these nearly as much if I were doing them alone . . . it’s like you’re there to watch something that will never happen again. Whether that event is mundane or not is the opinion of its spectators. I, personally, have never been bored from watching baseball.
As for this business of hitting .300 and striking out 7 times out of ten . . . such a person would be in the minor leagues at best. Out of those 7 outs, maybe one is a grounder to third that gets a runner over. Maybe one is a flyball that gets a runner to third or home.
Let’s clear up the 7 out of 10 quote right now. From the introduction to “Baseball,” the companion to the Ken Burns documentary:
“And yet the men who fail seven times out fo ten are considered the game’s greatest heroes.”
-“Baseball,” Knopf, 1994
“In our sun-down perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing “base”, a certain game of “ball”…Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms…the game of ball is glorious”.
(Walt Whitman 1846)
Doug Bowe explained, “I never thought about it until the documentary on it… If someone bats .300 they are supposed to be GREAT! At the same time, it means they strike out 7 out of 10 times. Baseball isn’t about winning. It’s about losing graciously.”
To which Bluepony noted: “You don’t have to strike out all those seven times. […]
-A deep fly to the outfield allows runners to score or advance to scoring position.”
Bluepony, I know what you mean, but technically a sac fly is not counted against your batting average.
So… how about them A’s? [don’t ask; they lost to the White Sox 13 to 0 today.]
I’m replying in regards of Bluepony’s post. If you’re thrown out at first and the runner scores (by bunt or just a soft hit), or you hit a deep fly to the outfield and the runner on third scores-it’s a sacrifice, and it doesn’t count against your average. So your statistics don’t go down, it was like the at bat didn’t even count (the at bat also doesn’t count if you get a base on balls or a HBP). That’s the beauty of baseball, it’s fair as well as fun to play. You can aid the runner in scoring, get on base yourself and your average is kicked up a few points (maybe, but it depends on how any at bats you’ve already had), or you may not get on base, all the same your average isn’t lowered. Now isn’t that wonderful?
::ahem::
It is no mystery to me.
Okay, just wanted to say that. Carry on!
Not quite correct.
If you hit a deep fly to the infield, that’s a sacrifice fly. If you bunt to try to “squeeze” the runner home, and you do so successfully, you’ll get credited with a sacrifice.
HOWEVER, merely hitting a ground ball to an infielder which scores a runner from third is NOT a sacrifice (though it is an RBI) and it does count as a time at bat (against your average).
but I do love to hear fans talk about it. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Well, DRY, I don’t know about that. I’ll have to check with a few friends tomorrow. Because I do believe, either with a bunt or just a hit, it is still a sacrfice, and it doesn’t affect your average.
Well, the baseball field, along with its centerpiece, the diamond is a whole lot more beautiful than a lawn with a bunch of white lines on it.
The players must be well-rounded athletes. If you play defense, you play offense too. None of this in-for-one-play crap.
Anyway, it’s too late for my brain to work… but, I must say enthusiastically…
How bout them Giants?!