Opening Day!

"Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job." - Annie Savoy in Bull Durham

Opening day of the baseball season can't help but being exciting. There's freshness inherent in the whole thing: clean stats, new sawd, new advertisers on the scoreboard, and new guys just up from triple-A. It's the boys of summer, hot dogs (the way they should taste,) old timey sportscasters, calls at the plate, and Americana.

People say that football is the "American game" these days, but I have to disagree. Football is only the American game because the American culture is now centered around a mindlessness of the television, and football is tailor-made for television broadcasting. Think I'm wrong? When was the last time you went to a football game? Those inexplicable stops in the play action are for words from the sponsors, so you too can buy a better bottle of beer. Notice how this never happens at a baseball game because the broadcast has to build around the game - the opposite of football.

Baseball has a pace; it's slow, methodical, and subtle. Then, in an instant of ballet-like coordination and explosive power, a punctuation of action changes everything. There's a reason for all of those quirky obsessive ticks players do before hitting, just like there's a reason for the precision of the box score. It's a love of sporting history and a nod to tradition. It's sepia-tinted photos from now-defunct ballparks, team names embroidered in florid script, pinstripes, and Casey at the Bat.

To bring this into the modern age, I must say that I loved this post from Jezebel.com giving 3 Reasons Why Smart Women Love Baseball...

It's true, the San Francisco Giants don't have such a hopeful outlook this year, but there's a beauty to being the underdog. Also, this season is the team's 50th Anniversary in the city, marking 50 years since the rivalry of the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers came to the west coast to become an even more cantankerous feud.

So, happy opening day! Here's to another season of "BEAT L-A", defensive batting, splash hits, and expensive beer in the stands. This girl cannot wait to get out to the ballpark!