Top Ten Reasons Why Baseball is Best
by J Masters
Well folks it's now Baseball time. Gone are the days of the gridiron. The hardwood is a little hard to get into these days and so attention is now focused on the great pasttime. So to get this year started off right I thought I'd do my own little impression of David Letterman's Top Ten list with one of my very own:
Top Ten Reasons Why Baseball Is Better Than Football And Basketball.
Number 10: No Salary Cap. Okay this one is another heated debate between sports fans. And I will maintain my position. It's not a salary cap that makes football so competitive, it's the fact that there is a salary floor. In Baseball, because it is a regional sport, there is no real way to regulate spending. Therefore any team can acquire any potential free agent it wants. Even more important, teams can keep their own free agents. In football you cheer for a jersey. In baseball you have heroes.
Number 9: Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe. Whether you want them in the Hall or you don't few debates raise as much passion from fans as this one. There is no debate that even comes close in any other sport.
Number 8: History. Basketball was around since 1891. Football since the mid 19th century. Baseball since 1846 yet every single season of baseball seems historical. Now in this respect Basketball was coming close. But since the breakup of the Bulls in 1998 it just hasn't seemed the same. Football has become a television show and even on that level the game is not as memorable or as historical as an average episode of Seinfeld or Friends. Baseball's history is awe inspiring and you only need to look at Yankees vs Red Sox of this last season to find a series frozen in time forever.
Number 7: The Hardest thing to do in Sports is hit a round ball with a round bat! A QB that only completes 30 percent of his passess gets cut. A Wide Receiver that only catches 30 percent of the balls thrown to him gets benched. A Running Back that only gains yards 30 percent of the time is sent to NFL Europe. A basketball player that has a field goal percentage of only 30 is either cut or becomes a 12th man. Yet in baseball the best players in the world only succeed 30 percent of the time. It is a skill so hard to master that the greatest hitter of all time is only that because on a couple of occasions he hit the ball 40 percent of the time. (Ted Williams.)
Number 6: The Curses of Boston and Chicago. Every year we watch them. Every year their fans say, "This is our year." Every year, at the end of the year, those fans say, "Wait till next year." Whether there is a curse or there isn't, the mystical presence in thought alone adds something supernatural to the sport.
Number 5: You love the Yankees. There is no team that has many fans in the entire world as the New York Yankees. In Communist Cuba and China there are Yankee fans with Yankee hats and Yankee posters. In every stadium around the US, including Fenway Park, there are Yankee fans. They have almost ascended the sport in terms of popularity. The Lakers in Basketball don't even come close. The Cowboys in football come close in the US but they have absolutely no global following and there are cities in the US where you'd be hard pressed to find a Cowboy fan--Washington for example.
Number 4: You hate the Yankees. They outspend everyone. They always bring in the big names. They win it almost every year. And what's worse, they're from New York. Easily the team you love to hate. Again the Lakers and Cowboys give up some competition in this catagory, but not nearly enough.
Number 3: The Home Run. Nothing gives up the same excitment as seeing a Major League Home Run. Touchdown's and Slam Dunks happen much too frequently. Even in today's game of the high powered offense, the Home Run is still a sight to see.
Number 2: International Atheletes. Baseball's modern era has truly become an international sport. Football competes on a global stage with Soccer, and it is a competition that it is losing badly. With the proposed onset of a "World Cup of Baseball" to begin in 2005, I predict that Baseball will supplant Soccer as the most popular sport in the world. (For those that don't know there is a proposal to begin a true "World Series" where 12 to 16 teams will compete on a national level and work their way down to a hero. It will follow the same format as the current Soccer World Cup and will be played prior to Spring Training.)
Number 1: Babe Ruth. Still the most popular athlete in the world today. There isn't a child alive who hasn't heard of Ruth. There isn't a person alive who doesn't know the legacy left behind by him. The man's accomplishments are legendary. He has reached the level of folk hero. American legend. There is no athlete other than Muhammad Ali that can compare to him. Sorry Mr. Jordan, with all due respect, you're just not the Babe.
by J Masters
Well folks it's now Baseball time. Gone are the days of the gridiron. The hardwood is a little hard to get into these days and so attention is now focused on the great pasttime. So to get this year started off right I thought I'd do my own little impression of David Letterman's Top Ten list with one of my very own:
Top Ten Reasons Why Baseball Is Better Than Football And Basketball.
Number 10: No Salary Cap. Okay this one is another heated debate between sports fans. And I will maintain my position. It's not a salary cap that makes football so competitive, it's the fact that there is a salary floor. In Baseball, because it is a regional sport, there is no real way to regulate spending. Therefore any team can acquire any potential free agent it wants. Even more important, teams can keep their own free agents. In football you cheer for a jersey. In baseball you have heroes.
Number 9: Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe. Whether you want them in the Hall or you don't few debates raise as much passion from fans as this one. There is no debate that even comes close in any other sport.
Number 8: History. Basketball was around since 1891. Football since the mid 19th century. Baseball since 1846 yet every single season of baseball seems historical. Now in this respect Basketball was coming close. But since the breakup of the Bulls in 1998 it just hasn't seemed the same. Football has become a television show and even on that level the game is not as memorable or as historical as an average episode of Seinfeld or Friends. Baseball's history is awe inspiring and you only need to look at Yankees vs Red Sox of this last season to find a series frozen in time forever.
Number 7: The Hardest thing to do in Sports is hit a round ball with a round bat! A QB that only completes 30 percent of his passess gets cut. A Wide Receiver that only catches 30 percent of the balls thrown to him gets benched. A Running Back that only gains yards 30 percent of the time is sent to NFL Europe. A basketball player that has a field goal percentage of only 30 is either cut or becomes a 12th man. Yet in baseball the best players in the world only succeed 30 percent of the time. It is a skill so hard to master that the greatest hitter of all time is only that because on a couple of occasions he hit the ball 40 percent of the time. (Ted Williams.)
Number 6: The Curses of Boston and Chicago. Every year we watch them. Every year their fans say, "This is our year." Every year, at the end of the year, those fans say, "Wait till next year." Whether there is a curse or there isn't, the mystical presence in thought alone adds something supernatural to the sport.
Number 5: You love the Yankees. There is no team that has many fans in the entire world as the New York Yankees. In Communist Cuba and China there are Yankee fans with Yankee hats and Yankee posters. In every stadium around the US, including Fenway Park, there are Yankee fans. They have almost ascended the sport in terms of popularity. The Lakers in Basketball don't even come close. The Cowboys in football come close in the US but they have absolutely no global following and there are cities in the US where you'd be hard pressed to find a Cowboy fan--Washington for example.
Number 4: You hate the Yankees. They outspend everyone. They always bring in the big names. They win it almost every year. And what's worse, they're from New York. Easily the team you love to hate. Again the Lakers and Cowboys give up some competition in this catagory, but not nearly enough.
Number 3: The Home Run. Nothing gives up the same excitment as seeing a Major League Home Run. Touchdown's and Slam Dunks happen much too frequently. Even in today's game of the high powered offense, the Home Run is still a sight to see.
Number 2: International Atheletes. Baseball's modern era has truly become an international sport. Football competes on a global stage with Soccer, and it is a competition that it is losing badly. With the proposed onset of a "World Cup of Baseball" to begin in 2005, I predict that Baseball will supplant Soccer as the most popular sport in the world. (For those that don't know there is a proposal to begin a true "World Series" where 12 to 16 teams will compete on a national level and work their way down to a hero. It will follow the same format as the current Soccer World Cup and will be played prior to Spring Training.)
Number 1: Babe Ruth. Still the most popular athlete in the world today. There isn't a child alive who hasn't heard of Ruth. There isn't a person alive who doesn't know the legacy left behind by him. The man's accomplishments are legendary. He has reached the level of folk hero. American legend. There is no athlete other than Muhammad Ali that can compare to him. Sorry Mr. Jordan, with all due respect, you're just not the Babe.
