OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Someone help me to find the "thrill" of baseball please II

CatKnight · 03-26-2013, 04:39 AM

Oh dear. I'm not sure whether to call it thrill or not, but I'll tell you a few things that attract me:

In baseball, it's never over until the last out. Ever. In any sport with a timer, there comes a point of no return: If I'm losing a football game 42-0 (6 touchdowns) with 2 minutes left in the game...it's over. There is no point in me prolonging my agony other than pride.

If I'm down by 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth, it's serious. I will PROBABLY lose. But even with 2 outs and no one on, once in a long while the baseball gods smile on you.

Let's talk about these baseball gods. Call it luck, random chance, spirituality....doesn't matter. Usually we have enough stats on hand to have a pretty good idea what's going to happen. If you have your ace pitcher, and I have a rookie who's hitting 0 for 20, you're probably going to get me out. Once in awhile though, something improbable happens. I get a freak single. Or I hit the ball right to the infielder, and the infielder drops it.

Improbable plays happen in football too, of course, but in baseball because it's such an isolated incident - pitcher vs. batter vs. fielder vs. runner - you have more time to wonder at it.

You mentioned luck in your post...to be honest, and this is not a knock on the NFL...the whole season is a crap shoot. ANYONE can do really well (or really poorly) over a sixteen game streak. When Vince Lombardi said that on any given Sunday anything could happen, he was absolutely right.

16 games isn't long enough to wear away all the statistical anomalies. 16 games into a baseball season, I can't tell you crap about how it's going to end. I can't tell you who will win the Cy Young or MVP. Get back to me at the end of May, or about 40 games in. Only then can I even begin to guess who'll still be standing at the end....and even 162 games might not be quite enough to sort it out.

I've heard baseball called a soap opera for guys. Day by day, inning by inning, a story unfolds that will take six months to tell....and just like being 6 runs down in the 9th, until very late in the process it's never too late to turn things around. The 1978 New York Yankees were considered hopelessly out of the pennant race at the All Star Break. They won.

Long story short....the thrill for me - the passion - is in those little moments when probability gets turned on its head, because no matter how old the season is, or how many stats you can bring to bear.....you're just not quite sure what's going to happen next.

03-26-2013, 04:39 AM	#2
CatKnight All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 1,199	Oh dear. I'm not sure whether to call it thrill or not, but I'll tell you a few things that attract me: In baseball, it's never over until the last out. Ever. In any sport with a timer, there comes a point of no return: If I'm losing a football game 42-0 (6 touchdowns) with 2 minutes left in the game...it's over. There is no point in me prolonging my agony other than pride. If I'm down by 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth, it's serious. I will PROBABLY lose. But even with 2 outs and no one on, once in a long while the baseball gods smile on you. Let's talk about these baseball gods. Call it luck, random chance, spirituality....doesn't matter. Usually we have enough stats on hand to have a pretty good idea what's going to happen. If you have your ace pitcher, and I have a rookie who's hitting 0 for 20, you're probably going to get me out. Once in awhile though, something improbable happens. I get a freak single. Or I hit the ball right to the infielder, and the infielder drops it. Improbable plays happen in football too, of course, but in baseball because it's such an isolated incident - pitcher vs. batter vs. fielder vs. runner - you have more time to wonder at it. You mentioned luck in your post...to be honest, and this is not a knock on the NFL...the whole season is a crap shoot. ANYONE can do really well (or really poorly) over a sixteen game streak. When Vince Lombardi said that on any given Sunday anything could happen, he was absolutely right. 16 games isn't long enough to wear away all the statistical anomalies. 16 games into a baseball season, I can't tell you crap about how it's going to end. I can't tell you who will win the Cy Young or MVP. Get back to me at the end of May, or about 40 games in. Only then can I even begin to guess who'll still be standing at the end....and even 162 games might not be quite enough to sort it out. I've heard baseball called a soap opera for guys. Day by day, inning by inning, a story unfolds that will take six months to tell....and just like being 6 runs down in the 9th, until very late in the process it's never too late to turn things around. The 1978 New York Yankees were considered hopelessly out of the pennant race at the All Star Break. They won. Long story short....the thrill for me - the passion - is in those little moments when probability gets turned on its head, because no matter how old the season is, or how many stats you can bring to bear.....you're just not quite sure what's going to happen next.