Baseball

Very few people appreciate baseball. Most people think that it is just a bunch of standing around swinging a bat as hard as you can. But there is so much to baseball that Joe Smith Fan doesn't even notice.

Baseball is about moving a step to the left because you know that the batter likes to pull the ball. Baseball is stealing on an 0-2 count because the pitcher is likely to throw a breaking ball.


I'll admit it, 99% of baseball is anticipation, and I understand that anticipation isn't that interesting to watch.

But for those who have the willpower to struggle through learning how to hit an unpredictably-moving ball the payoff is enormous. Sure it's satisfying to score a basket in basketball, but you could score 40 points in a quarter and still lose. In baseball, I would argue that there is the highest buildup and importance on any single play--on par with a goal scored in soccer.

Perhaps you might even say that the reason there is an ever decreasing number of baseball fans in this country (and children who learn to play it growing up) is because the way our society is being restructured. We want to be entertained now, not 10 minutes from now, this very instant. And heaven forbid, we have 10 minutes during the day where we aren't on the internet (guilty) or listening to our Ipods, or watching TV.

Where has all the time for contemplation gone, where is the anticipation in life anymore. We want instant gratification and nothing else.

Is it any wonder that there is an increasing number of kids who come down with ADD? Rather than teach our children to appreciate simple things such as a family walk through the woods, we sit them down in front of the TV so we can have some peace and quiet.

Bill Bryson the author of books such as A Walk in the Woods, once wrote:

“To an American the whole purpose of living, the one constant confirmation of continued existence, is to cram as much sensual pleasure as possible into one's mouth more or less continually. Gratification, instant and lavish, is a birthright.”

Take the time to appreciate the anticipation of life.