Rants and Raves by a Sports Geek

Today is Monday. But you knew that already. Today also happens to be Opening Day in Major League Baseball. Which you may not have known. For people like me (Alex, that is), Opening Day is like riding Space Mountain, except without the lines and the screaming children.

In many ways, it’s my favorite day of the whole year, and to commemorate the occasion, we have a guest post from my brother on the subject.

I’ll have my own baseball-centric post coming later this week, and I thought the following would be an appropriate way to kick off the new season.

Enjoy!

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Ah, spring is here and that can only mean one thing…seniors can go outside again! No, no (well, I suppose they could) but it means that baseball is back, baby, and hope springs eternal for millions of fans across the country.

This April 5th isn’t just the day after Easter; it feels like a holiday for many Americans. It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball. You can smell the grass, hear the crack sound the bat makes when the ball catches its sweet spot, and see the sun beaming down onto the field as if it were a stage performer.

Opening Day in baseball is really a unique experience that is unlike anything in other sports.

Opening Day is the beginning of the next seven months of constant baseball—no waiting a week in between, no consecutive days off for travel, and no hockey (thank you jebus). Baseball is a 24/7 marathon that brings something new every, single day. It is the only sport where you can (and, likely, will) see something that you’ve never seen before on any given night.

Let’s face it, the only important part of a basketball game is the last two minutes, football games are usually decided by whoever controls the clock best, and Hockey…well, no one cares about hockey. What makes baseball great is that there is no time limit, you can’t kneel to keep the clock moving, or foul to stop the clock, you have to get 27 outs to win a ball game. And no matter what the score is at any point in the game, there is no guarantee of victory.

Many people in this country feel that baseball is too boring and that it takes too long to play. Baseball is like reading a novel. Many Americans don’t like to read, and don’t have the time or patience to do so. However, once you pick up a book and start reading it, it can be hard to put down.

The same is true of baseball. The moment you start watching a baseball game, you become immersed in it. You realize that it really is an exciting experience and that anything can happen at any time. Baseball is unlike any other sport because it is a part of our country’s history, and thus Opening Day should be a national holiday.

Baseball is the only sport where our President takes time out of his busy schedule (hopefully) to throw out the first pitch. And why does he do this? Because it is important to our history and to the people of this country.

It is a Presidential tradition that every Commander in Chief feels is important enough to honor. So, since we already honor the President(s) on President’s Day, why don’t we honor the game by giving it the respect it deserves?

Opening Day is a perfect time to reflect on how important the game is to our society and should be a national holiday.