I was watching Pawn Stars (which if you don’t watch you should) the other night and a debate was started over what was the better sport baseball or football. Everyone has their own opinion on the matter and my motto is to each their own. However, in my mind this isn’t even close. Baseball is much better. So, I give you my top ten reasons why baseball is the far superior sport.
No clock to run out – Not just in football but in every other sport you can run out the clock. Not in baseball. How many times do you watch a football game and whatever team has the ball last wins. You run out the clock you take a knee whatever it is. You cannot do that in baseball. You have to get that elusive 27th out. This year’s World Series was the perfect example of that. Twice the Rangers were one out from winning the thing. And twice they could not get that last out. To me that is what makes the game all the more exciting. And I don’t care what you say knowing you have to finish off the other team by getting that last out adds drama to any game.
The thinking man’s game – Baseball always has been the thinking man’s game. This may sound elitist as all hell but football is for Neanderthals. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of strategy in a football. But it does not compare to baseball. I love when people try to tell me baseball is boring. Football games take three hours and there is an average of eleven minutes in action. There are around 120 actual offensive plays ran in a game. In baseball there are on average 300 pitches per game. And on each pitch there is a strategy involved. Each player in the field must position themselves based on the count, what kind of hitter is batting which many a graph is studied to figure out. The situation, are there runners on base. If you are in the field you should be constantly thinking where do I throw the ball if it is hit to me. If you are catching or pitching you have to think about pitch selection and location. I am just reaching the tip of the iceberg here. I won’t bore everyone but if you really watch the game and know it there is so much going on that if you do fancy yourself someone who loves strategy then baseball has it in spades.
Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports – This one is not even up for debate. Hitting a round baseball with a bat is the most difficult thing in all of sports to do. It’s a talent that few on this earth have. The hand eye coordination it takes is simply mind boggling. And to all those morons who think it doesn’t take guts to play baseball I guarantee they have never gotten in a batter’s box and faced a 90 MPH fastball. Then when you are geared up for that a pitcher can throw you an off speed pitch and make you look foolish. Even a .200 hitter in the bigs has an amazing ability.
Any person no matter their size can play – I grew up a small skinny kid. Football was out of the question growing up. I mean have you seen Lucas? Baseball however, I could still play. It does not matter how big you are. If you can play the game you can play. Or you can be an out of shape tub of goo and still be a stud. Babe Ruth is still for my money the single greatest baseball player of all time. He ate hot dogs by the case smoked Cuban cigars and drank booze like it was water. He was only in shape if you consider round a shape. Yet, he still had that ability to hit the baseball like certainly no one before him and few after him. Many will say the NFL has better athletes and that is fine. I much prefer a sport where I see normal sized people playing it.
You cannot substitute in and out of the game – Baseball is the only sport where once you are out of the game you are out. Thus, you have to choose when to pinch hit and run and when to take a pitcher out with much more caution. In football you run ten yards and you get substituted out for a play. You cannot take off plays in baseball. But I forgot football players are more rugged, spare me.
The Parks – People in the summer plan family vacations around visiting baseball stadiums. There is a reason for this. They are beautiful. Baseball is played in parks and football is played in stadiums. It’s played in the summer on with the exception of Toronto, on grass. The smell of a baseball park is one of the best that God has created. Football is a game best seen on TV. That is why it is so popular in that format. Baseball is fine on television but nothing compares to being at a game. The crack of the bat, the excitement of the crowd, the smell of steamy weenies on the grill, you cannot duplicate that. I have had some of the most miserable times of my life sitting at Solider Filed watching a Bears game. You could not pay me to go and watch a live football game in December.
It’s Unique – No two stadiums have the same dimensions. Think about that for one second. It is the only sport where you alter your game based on what park you are playing in. Is it is hitters park, is the wind blowing out. Is there a hill in centerfield? You have to alter your game based on conditions and location. Sure football has bad weather but each field is a hundred yards long. Baseball is also the only game where the defense has the ball. Also no other sport has the equivalent to hitting for the cycle or pitching a no hitter. To me nothing is more exciting than a pitcher throwing a no hitter. I’m a diehard Cub fan and I was rooting my ass off when Mark Buerhle pitched that perfect game a couple of years ago. I can’t think of any circumstance where I would ever root for the Packers in football.
You have to play offense and defense – I am going to limit this to the far superior brand of baseball they play in the National League where they don’t use that abortion of a rule called the designated hitter. You cannot hide a deficiency, you have to be able to not only hit but also be able to play the field. No one plays both sides of the ball in football anymore. You could be an awesome power hitter but if you have stone hands in the field you can’t be hidden you still have to go out there and play the field. I love that about the game. Conversely, you could be a wizard with the glove but if you can’t hit a lick you won’t be an everyday player. And since there again is no substituting in and out of the game you have to be somewhat adept at both parts of the game.
The pageantry and tradition – Simply put there is nothing like the tradition of baseball. The 7th inning stretch with the singing in every park to take me out to the ball game tell me what the equivalent is in football? Baseball has revered announcers, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Harry Cary, Jack Brickhouse, Mel Allen, the list goes on and differs on your home team and where you grew up. Listening to a baseball game on the radio on a summer night, seriously to me nothing like it. Name me one famous football announcer, John Madden would be the only one I would give you and he sucked. Opening Day in baseball, with the bunting and the pomp and the first pitch being thrown out by some dignitary, I get goose bumps just thinking about it.
The Numbers – No game uses statistical analysis more than baseball. Also in no sport is a mere number so important. Every baseball fan knows Joe DiMaggio had a 56 game hitting streak that still stands. Can you tell me the longest touchdown streak in football without looking it up? 3,000 hits, 500 homers, 300 wins, and 3000 strikeouts those numbers mean something in a career, what is the equivalent in football? Babe Ruth hit 714 homers everyone knows that. Roger Maris hit 61 homers in 1961 everyone knows that as well. Quick someone tell me how many TD’s Bret Favre threw or for that matter who had the record before he broke it? Then there is the new math and new metrics in baseball. I won’t bore you with statistical analysis and even if you don’t fully buy into the new school approach it is pretty cool that is it is there and available. You just can’t measure football that way.
