What I Love About Baseball

[cavalier1968]

A screaming Randy Johnson walking to the dugout after striking out the last batter in an inning.

Jeter trying to best out an infield hit......his intensity is immense....

Dontrells kid-like personality

Tony Larussa hiding hisself in the corner of the Cardinals dugout....

Ichero throwing a laser to home



CAv

[Mattingly]

Pitchers who actually turn the 1-6-3 DP, rather than trying to throw the ball away at home to get the 3B runner.

When the bunt or squeeze play actually works.

When an outfielder steals a HR away, changing the game around totally.

When a pitcher can freeze a guy throwing a pitch just slightly different than the last one, and the guy stands there thinking it was a ball.

When catchers can run the bases well, rather than just going very slowly.

Game-winning hits that are uncatchable, splits the outfielders.

Scoring from 1B.

Baltimore chops that never drop (until the next day, perhaps).

Well-placed bloop singles (or doubles)

[VTSoxFan]

-The play at the plate.

-The half-second silence between the pitch hitting the mit and the ump's call -- and then the crowd's reaction.

-The guy with the stentorian voice yelling PEANUTS! at Fenway.

-A duel -- the pitcher throwing everything he's got and the batter fouling off a dozen pitches, with the game on the line.

-Wakefield's knuckler making hitters look silly.

-Varitek's home-run sprint (he doesn't waste time with a mere jog).

-Defensive plays that make you gasp.

-Players who laugh as they play, enjoying it for the game it is.

[hellborn]

A hitter who really knows the strike zone and can work the count doing his thing.
That DP that Donnie Sadler turned a few years ago at Fenway.
Watching BP.
Taking BP.
Playing!!!!
A beautiful bat.
A glove that you really know well.
The way that Sandburg could bend at the waist and scoop a low grounder on a dead run and make a play that any other 2B would have to dive for look easy.
A great RF like Dwight Evans making the throw to 3B.
A pitcher like Foulke without great stuff but possessed of brains and guts making a good hitter look bad.
A guy like Bellhorn breaking out of a horrible postseason slump and putting himself in the history books with some huge hits.
Talking baseball in a friendly and intelligent way with fans of opposing teams.
Offbeat but fascinating books like "The Tao of Baseball".
And, of course, Baseball Fever!!!

[BadKarma]

- A 1-0 game

- The walk off HR

- Travis Hafner lumbering from 1st to home on a double by V-Mart

- Rooting on all the guys on my Fantasy teams, not just my team.

- Listening to games on the radio :radio

- Laser throws from OF to home to nail a runner trying to score

- A game that brings people from all different socio-economic circumstances together and gives them something in common.

[Williamsburg2599]

-The Fields-No other sport has more unique places to play then Baseball

-Watching a kid hit his first homerun

-Watching a Veteran hit his last

-How the US finnaly decided to share it with the rest of the world

-Kids who play with a sock with a rock in it and a stick because they love the game so much.

-Amazing Acts of Athletic Ability

-Walking though the tunnel and up into the stands of Fenway for the very first time, a moment where ill never forget

-No T.O

-No endzone celebration or Excessive Slam Dunks

-The Scoring System makes sense (you dont go by 7 and 3 or 2s or 3s)

-Minor League Games

-The All-Star Game

-You dont have to be rich to play. All you need is a glove.

-It ALWAYS gives me something to do.

-Watching Guys like Ichiro who show up 7 hours before a big game to "Warm Up"

-2004

-You can watch it all year long because theres alway someone playing baseball somewhere.

-Wally the green monster

-Extra Innings

-Wiffle Ball

-Tee Ball

-No ties

-Requires alot of Mental and Physical Skill

-No players telling the crowd to "quiet down"

-Theres always somewhere you can play

-Its fun

[The Dude]

-The gamers who don't have all the skill but make up for it with heart.

-The smell of hot dogs and beer mixed together when you're still blocks away from the stadium.

-Talking and having a good time with people you've never met before, or will ever meet again.

-People in the parking lot 2 hours after the game, still arguing over the same call they argued about at the end of the game.

-Being outrageously excited after every win, even though there might be 160 games left to play.

[scootermojo]

-the beauty of the perfect swing

-breaking balls that look like that look like they were wiffle balls

-the atmosphere of a ball park

-to stoicism and silent intimidation of pitcher in the zone

-manufacturing runs

-intensity of the post season

-the fact that all ballparks are different unlike any other sport

-the history of the game both good and bad

-hearing stories about ruth, williams, cobb, matthewson, mays, etc., and the fact that it still makes me feel like a little kid and that these guys of yesteryear and even in my lifetime seem mythological

-the rally

-wiffle ball

-stealing third

-waiting on a curveball and then roping it

-the mental aspect

-the pleasure of watching a hitter perform who is unstoppable

-the pleasure of watching a pitcher who can't be hit

-the no hitter, perfect game...what other sport has something like resembling perfection?

-the fact that you don't have to be a physical marvel to play and be excellent at it

-what i like most about baseball is the uniqueness of the sport and it's requirements and disciplines. no clock, game based on three (3 strikes, 3 outs, 9 innings, 3 game series, .300 average, etc.) and in how pitching and batting are not just athletic but also an artform and skill. you don't have to be the best or good "athletically" but good or the best at pitching and batting and that's probably harder than anything else in any other sport.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

--Sliding headfirst through the dirt and not wiping yourself off after being called safe.

--Watching the ball backspin off the bat and not feeling it at all.

--The smell of fresh cut grass, leather, and pine tar

--Pre-game BP/warmups with John Fogerty's "Centerfield" on the PA system.

--3-1 fastballs

--Well executed hit and runs

[Red Sox Rule]

-David Ortiz smashing a mammoth HR

-Atmospheres at ball parks

-Tension leading to big games...

-Relief after winning it

-Staying up til the early hours of the morning, nowing fine well you should be getting some sleep for college next day

[VIBaseball]

* The wealth of history and personalities.

* Little skills well executed: drag bunts, hook slides.

* Decoys...especially the hidden-ball trick.

* The high strike.

* Pitchers who can help themselves with the bat.

* Triples and inside-the-park homers.

* Barehand plays that just nip the runner.

* Knuckleballers and submariners.

* Superstitions.

* No matter how long you've been watching, it's possible to see something you've never seen before.

* The suspense -- at its best, it gets wound up longer and tighter than in any other sport.

[mojorisin71]

- Pitchers who go the distance

- Dodger fans united in the Pavilions

- Pitching duels

- Two-out rallies

- Walk-off hits

- The fact that even though one game by itself may not mean a lot in the context of the season, players are remembered by their one major mistake in a game

- Nancy Bea playing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"

- Patient hitters not swinging at the first pitch

- Guys who shut up and let their abilities do the talking

- Guys giving their all to fight for a roster spot

- Pickoffs at first

- Steals of home

- And best of all, no clock.

[Mattingly]

Uhmmmmmmm, nothing of heated divisional rivalries? Takes two teams to play the game, folks!

[Elvis]

Uhmmmmmmm, nothing of heated divisional rivalries? Takes two teams to play the game, folks!

I love this:

Los Angeles Dodgers World Championships - 5

San Francisco Giants World Championships - 0

[mojorisin71]

Uhmmmmmmm, nothing of heated divisional rivalries? Takes two teams to play the game, folks!

26-6 is nothing compared to 5-0 on the West Coast