My Flirtation With Baseball

I'm not a fan, used to be before the 1993 strike/lockout. It's hard to choose a sympathetic side when everyone is a millionaire and they are arguing over being paid more at the expense of the fans who actually buy the tickets.

Over the years I've caught the occasional game now and then, mostly post season or if there was a compelling storyline like rooting against Barry Bonds or the Cubs. Bonds I didn't like because he clearly wasn't living in denial so much as he was living on another planet apart from the truth, the Cubs because my co-worker loves them and it's my natural contrary attitude to root against something he wants out of good humor.

My main problem is that in baseball they have swept so many problems under the rug for attendance numbers...which they wouldn't have had problems with if they didn't stop the game in '93.

Yes the game is hard to watch as there isn't a lot happening at the time. We as a country are more accustomed to watching faster moving sports. Our country has been so successful over the decades of manufacturing entertainment that we have more options to have our free time filled than anyone ever in the history of the planet.

Baseball was once the national past time, now due to the dominance of the NFL it is going the way of a relic in the wake of the years of the steroid scandal. It'll still be relevant, not saying that it belongs in a museum of sports we used to play, I'm only talking about the once high position of relevance it held as our national sport and how the baton was handed to the NFL without the MLB noticing it had lost ground.

While in the NFL practically any team has a chance any year to be a contender if they make the right off season moves and has a good draft. In the MLB a lot of teams are eliminated from post season play by the first of June.

Regardless I decided to give a former flame another look. I purchased the MLB iPhone app so I can listen to games. Yesterday I listened to the Dodger's home opener, mainly because I like listening to Vin Scully call a game. The guy is a legend and can paint a picture of what's happening in the game like no other. This is possibly his last season so I am going to try to catch more games he calls this season.

I'm not a Dodger's fan, not a fan of any team really but I do favor the AL over the NL, yes I know that the Dodger's are a NL team but the AL doesn't have a Vin Scully.

This might last a week or it might last all season, reigniting a former love, time will tell.