Take Me Out to the Ballgame…but make it snappy since I’ve got STUFF to do.
I was never big on rules but this one I live by:
Never take anyone to a ball game that asks what time it ends.
I get it. Baseball games are long. Sometimes tediously long. We all have “stuff” to do, places to go, people to meet. We’re busy, constantly on the go. Look at our sayings and expressions!
Convenience.
Prompt service.
Fast Service!
Self Service!
12 Items or Less Express.
Get it to go.
Curbside Pick up! DoorDash!
Same Day Delivery! Next Day Air! Priority Over Night!
We ordered something from Amazon, and it was on the front porch two hours later.
I get it, a ballgame can take forever and we live in a “get it now” world. We want resolution, with everything, expeditiously! And why?
“We got stuff to do!”
These days, I watch or listen to a lot more baseball than ever before. I haven’t always had the time or desire to watch this much baseball regularly. There was a time I had a life. Honestly, I probably saw 200 complete innings of actual baseball during the 1995 season, but man was it a hell of season.
I didn’t need to see every pitch. Lived the moments. Baseball is about the moments and that season was full of them.
How about thousands of people descending on Jacobs Field from all over the city right after we beat the Mariners in Seattle to punch our ticket? Man what a party. But if you weren’t there, that’s ok. You probably had stuff to do!
Baseball is a book you read!
Well, I didn’t conduct a survey but odds are nobody in that crowd cared about how long an extra inning game in May took. Baseball is the ultimate spectator sport. It’s a saga. Every season is an epic novel. Every game a chapter.
It has its highs and lows, ups and downs. You’ll yell, scream, and throw objects. You’ll fire Tito at least once a ballgame, and then you run through the house high fiving everyone including the dog after a walk off win.
Here’s baseball in a nutshell:
30 teams.
North of 800 ballplayers swing the bat or throw a pitch in a season.
162 games in 197 days.
19.1 million hot dogs.
No set end time!
If you miss a game, you can read about it later, catch the highlights. Don’t worry, they will play again tomorrow. Go or don’t. We all have stuff to do in our lives.
Time is on MY SIDE!
Baseball starts in late March; ends in October. It doesn’t matter how many clocks or rules we try to put on a single game to speed it up because we got stuff to do. Baseball is a constant.
It will still last six months. I didn’t go to math school, but it seems to check out.
Yet we want a hitter to get back in the box, be alert to the pitcher 7 seconds after a little 95 mph chin music knocks him down in April. And why? Because we got stuff to do.
A game of Baseball is a journey to get to a moment like this, 9th inning tied game bases juiced with 2 outs.
2.5hr game of baseball ruined for a 15 sec pitch clock.
— KingofJUCO (@KingofJUCO) February 25, 2023
Let’s go to the ballpark!
Here’s some unsolicited advice, if you plan to go to a ballgame, make that the plan.
Make that the event.
“Hey, Tom and Karen? Where ya headed?”
“We’re headed to the ballgame.”
“Awesome!”
My suggestion? Plan to arrive for the first pitch, and leave when the last out is recorded.
If you use that plan, the game will end on time. I promise. If you have stuff to do, go do it. Catch the game tomorrow. They play a lot.
Please, use some common sense, Rob!
DAILY DIRT: Three words about baseball's new rule changes: Hip, hip hooray! https://t.co/90halmJJGK
— Muddy River News (@MuddyNews) March 1, 2023
I’m not here to say baseball is perfect. I’m not here to say all the new rules or future rule changes are bad. I’m not some crotchety “purest”, but please make them make baseball sense.
Extra innings? Automatic Runner makes baseball sense. The bigger bases make baseball sense. National League pitchers not owning bats, makes baseball sense. Yet, rushing a ballplayer with a pitch clock to throw/hit a 3-2 , 78 mile per hour big League “whip” just because we have stuff to do, doesn’t make much baseball sense. Have you ever tried to hit a curveball? How about every 15 seconds?
This is all for naught. I’m spinning my wheels. I bet half of you stopped reading two paragraphs ago because you had stuff to do. That’s ok!
Someday you’ll appreciate the simple things a little more, and if they leave baseball alone, you’re going to be glad they play 162 games that may be 3-1/2 hours long, I promise.
When you aren’t at the park…do stuff!
Until then, in between doing stuff, go for a nice stroll. Walk your dog on a beautiful summer night. If you happen to stroll down my street, you’ll hear my transistor radio as you approach.
Hammy and Rosie will be calling the ball game on my front porch.
I’ll tell you the score if you ask. You can pull up a seat and join me. Drink?
I’ll have most likely just arrived home from a long day of work, little league and…stuff. It’s usually around the 8th inning and I’m just glad I caught the end of the ballgame.
The Journey…
Baseball is about the journey. All 162 games, all 1,458 innings. Sometimes 18 grueling frames in one night. Then, the first pitch is set for tomorrow at 7:10.
I miss as much baseball as I watch/listen or see, yet I don’t miss a thing. Baseball is always there and I live in the moments. It’s the greatest game ever played.
In fact, it’s a lot like our lives! A journey to enjoy at a pace that suits us!
But what do I know?
David Richardson
March 2, 2023 at 7:21 am
Very well said Roger!wait..I got stuff to do!