Out of left field: “Baseball is Best” edition

Yes.  Yes, you’re correct.  I have been a little M.I.A. lately, my apologies.

My “real job” has taken me away from my fun job lately and I actually haven’t watched a game since…I’m not sure.  You see (now as a business owner, I’m going to choose my words carefully), the service I’ve been receiving from Comcast has been less than stellar.  As a result, I haven’t had access to Simpleton Summer Camp (YES Network) for over a week.  As a result, I try not to comment too much I what I don’t see.

That being said, I have watched a lot of World Cup Soccer.  I enjoy it, unlike most American sports fans.

But watching does remind me of what you probably already know, which is why you’re here:

Baseball is the best sport.  Period.

How did watching the World Cup bring about this re-affirmation?

Simple.  In soccer, a clearly inferior team can pack 7, 8, 9 players into the penalty area which will essentially prevent anything from happening there – like a goal.  They can do this for 70, 75, 80 minutes and hope the other (superior) team makes a mistake at midfield that may lead to a quick scoring opportunity for the inferior team.  0-0 with 10 minutes to go is fine with the inferior team.  A crazy, fluky goal can happen or it can eventually end up in a shootout, which is a coin toss essentially.  If you’re the inferior team, you’ll take those chances 100 times out of 100.  That definitely gives you a better chance than being aggressive over the first 4 fifths of the game which would likely have you on the business end of a 3-0 score.

You can’t do that in baseball. 

You can limit your own scoring opportunities if you want – by bunting for example – but that doesn’t help you win the game.  You still have to get the other guys out.

Simply put, you have to beat the other guys.  You can’t avoid action like you can in other sports until time is up.

In football, you can run the ball into the line and kick a field goal.  You can allow the other team short passes over the middle of the field.  All of these things help kill time which helps you win if you have the lead.

Not in baseball.  You still have to get them out.

In basketball even since the invention of the shot clock, you still can milk 20 or so seconds off the clock with each possession if need be.  As long as you can hit free throws, you’ll win.

No clock milking in baseball.  You still have to get the other guys out regardless of what your offense does.

Hockey?  Very similar to soccer.  Make sure there are always more defenders in front of your net than attacking players, and be conservative offensively.  The seconds tick and tick away…

Not in baseball.  Be conservative or aggressively.  Doesn’t matter.  You still have to get the other guys out.

Heck, even in boxing and MMA (I’m a huge fan of both) if you have a good early start, you can spend the rest of the fight…avoiding a fight…?

Hell, isn’t competition the point of competition?!?  As opposed to the avoidance of competition as with the aforementioned examples?  #amirite

Even with tennis and golf, where there is no clock, you still can become much more conservative with your shot making when you have a lead.

No game playing, no time management, no strategies to avoid competition in baseball.

Beat the other guy.  Get him out.  Do it, you win.  Don’t, you lose.  Period.

So I’ll enjoy the World Cup.  But I’ll still be thinking, “You can’t do that it baseball, you competition avoiding…competitors…”