America's Pastime: Why We Love Baseball

Since the start of the NBA playoffs has already been covered in depth by my co-writers (and the fact that I’ve missed every game because a move to a new house took away my TV, internet, and running water), I thought I’d dedicate today’s column to America’s pastime. My apologies for completely neglecting Opening Day – I’m going to make it up to you by sharing the top 5 (extremely objective, of course) traditions that make baseball great. And if you're lucky, I might throw in some of my experiences from Orioles games for good measure.

5. The First Pitch

This mainly applies to your team's home opener, even if it's not the first game of the season. You might have been there for such a game - the team runs out to the roar of the crowd, the pitcher tosses a couple more just for good measure, and the crowd turns from an excited chatter to a low murmur of excitement. There's a buzz, a feeling of electricity in the ballpark, and that goes double if you have an ace pitcher on your staff. The other team's leadoff batter is almost NEVER swinging at the first pitch of the season, so your pitcher has no excuse but to zip one down the middle. STEEEEEE-RIIIIIIIIIIKEEEEEEE. Awesome. After the fact, it feels a little anticlimactic, but the buildup to the first pitch is truly great. Here's an example:

Oh wait, that was John Wall throwing out the worst first pitch ever. Here's what I mean:

Even Royalty Must Choose (Yes, that means you, KC Royals)

The great questions most of us face in life are obvious: Could I be making more money if I had started my own business?  Why do the pockets on my shorts always come out of the wash inside out if I don’t put them in that way? Is three kids too many? If the best parts of any talent show on TV are the discoveries of weird people with amazing voices, why does the show need to be anything other than just a series of auditions?  And how the hell is Survivor still a show?

For a general manager of a major sports franchise, these are easily answered (no, I don’t wear shorts, with my first wife, I think we can all agree this is the case, and because seeing people starve and fight at the same time is some sort of weird human-impulse turn-on).  The real question is: Do I build a team to have success in the future (potentially sacrificing success in the present), or do I do what I can to put my team in a position to succeed every single year?

(Perhaps the actual question is: Is my fan base willing to let me build a franchise that will succeed in the future – and not fire me before it gets there?)