With Opening Day 2025 on the horizon, I find myself looking forward to the months ahead and reflecting on why I love baseball. With that in mind, I’ll dedicate this post to a review/update of the ten top (plus one) reasons I love the national pastime – and also include links (at the end of this post) to posts on the topic of “Why I Love Baseball” from guest writers ranging from Grammy nominee Leonard Eckhaus to 2013 MLB Draft sixth-round pick John Michael Murphy to sportswriter and author Larry LaRue. Note: I consider the first slate or games the true Opening Day – not the overseas version. But that’s a topic for another post.
Let’s start with Baseball Roundtable’s reasons to love the national pastime.
1. Baseball comes along every spring, accompanied by sunshine and optimism.
Baseball is the harbinger of better times. It signifies the end of winter (not a small thing if you’re from Minnesota) and the coming of spring – a season of rebirth, new life and abundant optimism. Each season, you start with a clean slate. Last year’s successes can still be savored, but last year’s failures can be set aside (although rival fans may try to refresh your memory), replaced by hope and anticipation. On Opening Day, in our hearts, we can all be in contention.
People ask me what I do in winter, when there’s no baseball.
I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
Honus Wagner, Hall of Famer
2. Baseball is timeless and, ultimately, fair in the offering of opportunity.
The clock doesn’t run out. There is no coin flip to determine who gets the ball first in sudden death overtime. No matter what the score, your team (if trailing) gets at least 27 outs as it pursues an equal opportunity to secure victory. What could be more fair? And then there is the prospect of “extra” innings, bonus baseball for FREE.
When I was young my heroes didn’t wear capes or cowboy hat. They wore stirrups and baseball caps. Many still do.
3. Plays and players are distinct (in space and time).
Baseball, while a game of inches, is also a game of considerable space. The players are not gathered along an offensive line or elbow-to-elbow under a basket. They are widely spaced, each with his own area of responsibility and each acting (as part of a continuing play) in their own time frame. (On a 6-3 play, for example, first baseman can’t catch the ball for the putout until after the shortstop throws it.) This enables fans to follow, understand and analyze each play (maybe not always accurately) in detail. And, baseball’s distinct spacing and timing makes it possible to see the game even when you are not there. A lot of people grinned at President Gerald Ford’s comment that he “watched a lot of baseball on the radio.” In my view, he was spot on. You can see baseball on the radio – you can create a “visual” of the game in your mind with minimal description. That’s why on summer nights, in parks, backyards and garages across the country, you’ll find radios tuned to the national pastime.
4. The scorecard.
Can there be anything more satisfying than keeping an accurate scorecard at the ballpark? It serves so many purposes. The keeping of a scorecard ensures your attention to the happenings on the field.
Photo by mwlguide 
Maintaining the score card also makes you, in a way understandable only to fellow fans, more a part of the game. That magical combination of names, numbers and symbols also enables you to go back and check the progress of the game at any time. “Oh, Johnson’s up next. He’s walked and grounded out twice.” It’s also a conversation starter, when the fan in the row behind you asks, “How many strikeouts does Ryan have today?” And, it leaves you (if you choose to keep it) with a permanent record of the game, allowing you to replay it in your mind (or share it with others) at will. Ultimately, a well-kept scorecard enhances the game experience and offers a true post-game sense of accomplishment.
5. The long season.
Baseball, so many have pointed out, is a marathon rather than a sprint. It’s a long season with ample opportunity to prove yourself and lots of chances to redeem yourself. For fans, the long season also represents a test of your passion for the game. Endurance is part of the nature of the true baseball fan. And, and in the end, the rigors of a 162-game season prove your mettle and that of your team. Not only that, but like a true friend … baseball is there for you every day.
6. Baseball invites, encourages, even demands, conversation.
I love the fact that whenever baseball fans gather, their passion comes out in conversation – and they find plenty to talk about:
- Statistics, statistics, statistics. Baseball and its fans will count anything. Did you know that Yankee Jim Bouton’s hat flew off 37 times in his 2-1, complete-game victory over the Cardinals in game three of the 1964 World Series? More seriously, statistics are part of a common language and shared passion that bring baseball fans together in spirited conversation. There is no sport more statistically annotated than baseball and the sheer volume of stats available offers unending angles and avenues of comparison. For example, you can compare the batting average of two players from different eras – and then you can go a step further and compare how each their averages compare to the “average” average of the era in which they played or … (I could go on and on). As best-selling author Pat Conroy once put it “Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around in their mouths like Bordeaux wine.” I agree, to the fan, statistics are intoxicating. I personally like to swirl them around in my brains to find new ways to connect and compare “moments” from baseball past and present (failures, achievements and even coincidences.) Side note: Fans have found other ways to savor the hypnotic draw of statistics from statistic-based board/dice and computer games like Strat-O-Matic(R) to today’s many versions of fantasy baseball.
- Stories, stories, stories. Baseball and its fans celebrate the game’s history. And, I’m not talking just about statistics. I’m talking about the stories that give this great game color, character and characters. Ty Cobb sharpening his spikes on the dugout steps, Babe Ruth’s called shot, Louis Tiant’s wind-up, Willie Mays’ basket catch, Dock Ellis’ LSD-fueled no-hitter.
- Trivia, trivia, trivia. This may fall close to the “stories, stories , stories” category, but fans cherish the trivia that surrounds our national pastime – whether that trivia is iconic or ironic. For example, it’s ironic that the most recent player to steal home twice in one game (Vic Power, August 14, 1958) did it in a season when he only stole a total of three bases). Then there is the iconic performance of Ralph Kiner, who led the NL in home runs as a rookie in 1948 – and successfully defended that title in each of the next six seasons – the most consecutive home runs titles by any major leaguer ever.
Basically, I took a long time to say I love the fact that baseball fans will talk with passion about something that happened in today’s game, yesterday’s game, over time or even in a game that took place on May 30, 1894 (Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters records MLB’s first four-homer game). And, as a bonus, all this conversation – all the statistics, stories and trivia – make the games, moments within the games and the characters of the game (heroes, goats and mere participants) as timeless as baseball itself.
7. The irony of a team game made up of individual performances.
While baseball and baseball fans live for individual statistics and, while the spacing of the players drives individual accountability, the game is, ironically, deeply dependent on the concept of “team.”
Consider the offense. Unlike other sports , where you can deliver victory by giving the ball or puck – time and time again (particularly as the clock runs down) – to your best runner, skater, receiver or shooter, in baseball, your lineup determines who will be “on the spot” and at the plate when the game is on the line. It may be your .230-hitting second basemen, rather than your .320-hitting outfielder. Yet, even as the team depends on the hitter, he is totally alone in his individual battle with the pitcher. And, achieving individual statistics that signify exceptional performance also demands a sense of team. You don’t score 100 runs without a teammate to drive you in (although the statistic remains your measure of performance) … and you don’t drive in 100 runs if no one gets on base in front of you. And, can you think of any other sport that keeps track of – and honors – the team-oriented “sacrifice.”
On defense, the story is the same. Circumstances may determine which fielders are compelled to handle the ball at the games most critical junctures. And, “team” is at play. A ground ball pitcher, for example, needs a good infield behind him to optimize his statistical presence in the “win” column. And the six-four-three double play requires masterful teamwork as well as individual performance – duly recorded in the record books as an assist for the shortstop, a putout and an assist for the second baseman and a put out for the first baseman. Then there is the outfield assist – a perfect throw from a right fielder to nail a runner at third earns an assist – even if the third baseman drops the ball and earns an error. Two individual results (one good / one bad) highlighted, but without the necessary teamwork – a good play on both ends – a negative outcome in terms of the game.
Ultimately, baseball is a game of individual accomplishments that must be connected by the thread of “team” to produce a positive outcome.
8. The pace of the game invites contemplation.
Between innings, between batters or pitchers, and even between pitches, baseball leaves us time to contemplate what just occurred, speculate on what might happen next and even share those thoughts with nearby spectators. Baseball is indeed a thinking person’s game. (Side note: The relatively new pitch clock rules have slightly dampened aspect of the national pastime, so I’ve dropped it from number-two a couple of years ago. For me, the jury is still out and where this aspect of the game should be placed.)
9. The box score.
Today’s box score – a thing of beauty.
My mother used to refer to an accordion as “an orchestra in a box.” That’s how I view the daily box score – the symphony of a game recorded in a space one-column wide by four inches deep. Some would say the box score reduces the game to statistics, I would say it elevates the game to history. What do you want to know about the contest? Who played where, when? At bats, hits, stolen bases, strikeouts, errors, caught stealing, time, attendance, even the umpires’ names? It’s all there and more – so much information, captured for baseball fans in a compact and orderly space. I am, of course, dating myself here, but during baseball season, the morning newspaper, through its box scores, is a treasure trove of information for baseball fans. (Okay, you can find that information online now, but I do prefer my box scores accompanied by the smell of fresh coffee and newsprint.)
10. Baseball’s assault on the senses. (Indoor ballparks fall a bit short here).
The sight of a blue sky and bright sun above the ballpark or a full moon over a black sky above a well-lit stadium. The feel of the warm sun or a crisp evening breeze. The scent of freshly mowed grass or steaming hot dogs. The taste of cold beer and peanuts. The sound of the crack of the bat, the cheers (or moans) of the crowd, the musical pitch of the vendors. Baseball assaults all the senses ― in a good way.
11. Baseball is the most literary of all sports. Okay, I love to read and I love baseball – and that is as perfect a combination as 6-4-3. There is no doubt (at least in my mind) that baseball is the most literary of all sports – from the fiction of Philip Roth (The Great American Novel) and Paul Quarrington (Home Game – you’ve got to read this one if you haven’t) to non-fiction like The Glory of Their Times (Lawrence Ritter) and The Baseball 100 (Joe Posnanski). The fact is there are literally (pun intended) hundreds of baseball books I love (and would recommend to every fan) – and the hits just keep on growing. Heck, my library even includes a book of baseball nicknames, another on baseball trades and a two-volume set of reprinted news articles from Joe DiMaggio’s career. And, just think of the movies that have emerged from baseball literature: The Natural, Bang the Drum Slowly, for the Love of the Game. (Note: For each set of these examples, I could have added “and many, many more.” The fact is, for this baseball fan, baseball literature is a “Field of Dreams.”
The ballet of the double play … a beautiful thing.
Photo by roy.luck
Now, I could go on and on, there are lots more reasons to love this game: its combination of conformity (all infields are laid out the same) and individualism (outfield configurations not so much); its strategy (hit-and-run, run-and-hit, sacrifice bunts, infield / outfield positioning, pitching changes, etc.); triples; the 6-4-3 double play; knuckleballs; and more. But to protect myself – and BBRT’s readers – I’ve limited myself to eleven. I probably could have saved a lot of time and words had I just started with this so-perfect comment from sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, “The other sports are just sports. Baseball is love.” That says it all.
Bonus Reason to Love Baseball – Opening Day
In the words of Joe DiMaggio:
“You always get a special kick on Opening Day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you were a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.”
Now. here are links to guest posts on “Why I Love Baseball.”
- For a post from author, poet and Grammy nominee Leonard Eckhaus (that includes an original poem) click here.
- For a post from John Michael Murphy, Yankees’ sixth-round pick in the 2013 MLB draft, click here.
- For a post from Jason Love, author of “Slices of Americana – A Road Trip Through American Baseball History, click here.
- For a post from sportswriter and author Larry LaRue, click here.
- For a post from college football coach Alex Smith, click here.
- For a post from baseball blogger Bill Ivie (I70baseball.com), click here.
- For a post from dedicated autograph seeker Scott Perry, click here.
- For a post from lifelong baseball fan Tom Cuggino, click here.
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