Does Baseball Deserve A Second Chance? Let’s Find Out.
It’s been five years since I gave a damn about baseball. In those days, the summer months of rooting for the Red Sox and dedicating hours to my fantasy team seemed like a source of unending joy to a chubby high schooler with nothing better to do in suburban Connecticut. But then I graduated high school, and in my last summer before college, watching relatively meaningless four-hour ordeals between baseball clubs didn’t seem so important. I preferred to spend time with friends, enjoy life at home for a few more months, and focus on the new start ahead.
But five years later, I find myself aspiring to work in journalism (sports journalism, in particular), and baseball might just be relevant after all. That’s why I’m going to give it a second chance.
As an young man who finds the speed and parity of the NFL addictive, and the fluidity and grace of hockey compelling, this whole experience may bore me to tears. But I’m going to stick to it, from Opening Night on Sunday all the way through the conclusion of the World Series. And I’m going to document it all here.
What will this second chance entail, you ask?
Well, keep in mind that five years removed from having paid any attention to the sport, I remember next to nothing about baseball, the relevant players, and the standing of any teams. All I’ve gathered is that the Red Sox are miserable, and that’s simply a function of living under the obsessive and miserable reign of Boston’s club of baseball reporters.
Nonetheless, I’m going to watch as many regular season games as I can, posting my likely naïve thoughts on players, teams, and the general standing-around-ness of the game. I’m also going to get a fantasy team together, and track it’s likely failure throughout the season.
In the end, I’ll either reaffirm my belief that there are better things that can be done with four hours than watch grown men in pajamas play a painfully slow game or I’ll be so surprised by the beloved traditions and the spurts of athleticism that I’ll come out a born-again baseball fan.
I have hunch about how this is going to go, but who knows? Stay tuned to find out.
(Photo Courtesy Rant Sports)
Doug Saffir 