It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over* (A Long Rant + Rave About Baseball)

Baseball - everyone's heard of the steroid mess right? the BALCO trial, Canseco's "book", Mac's not-so-surprising and yet to many reporters, "disturbing", silence about "the past"...etcetera etcetera.

But frankly I think it is, on the one hand, about time the nation's pasttime got shook up a bit, and on the other hand, not really what we are seeing here. A lot of fuss and new publicity with a few of the big names getting drug through the mud (no pun intended _of course) which in the end will not amount to a whole lot more than a few extra tales to tell over beers and peanuts in front of the big game ... say April 3rd (Yanks vs. Sox - now there's a rivalry worth watching again finally)...

And that really is what it all boils down to - baseball basically is just what your friends who "don't get it" say it is: a bunch of dudes running around with a ball or a stick playing catch in some strange chaotic way that makes no sense and lasts too long. But when you add on some layers, you get a rich experience that means a lot of different things to different people and yet brings them all together in a shared experience. Now that's pretty powerful stuff...For example, to me the stats is what makes the game itself exciting. I've only ever been to 1 major league game and 1 minor league game and a few softball matches in my backyard way back when...but have read numerous stats books, used to own a fairly decent card collection before the flood (long story), played fantasy baseball far too many times to count and held my own a few times (though I can only claim to have been a consistent expert at Monopoly or for a brief period of time, chess) both with my dad and brother with our own league rules etc and online.

To someone else, they are more enamored by the visual displays of power, perhaps finding themselves focusing in more on the power hitters, the homeruns. Another person has Derek Jeter plastered all over their themed bedroom – you know, the bedding, the bat shaped lamp, the t-ball trophies, the card collection under glass. LOL Someone else is into for the financial aspect of it all – and they can tell you exactly how Curt and Randy match up in terms of their salaries ($12 million vs. $16 million, respectively – and I had to look that up). And yet still another set of folks watch the games because some of the players “look nice in those uniforms”. Others just love the outdoors, family time appeal of attending a game. Others are more aggressive and love to have someone/something to root for and argue over and get rowdy about when it’s socially appropriate to do so. Others don’t need social appropriateness. Others just want an excuse to drink and hang out. Or just drink. There are fans of all walks of life from the hardcore gamers and the geeks to the bus driver, the bartender, the factory worker, the schoolteacher, the professor of Medieval English Literature, the cardiothoracic surgeon, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

But no matter what any of us thinks – it is still both a game and a business. In the times that we live in now, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the latter has come to dominate baseball’s raison d’etre, so to speak. But that is why the steroid “crisis” is really not such a big deal, and instead may even be simply a way to get people talking about baseball again on a broader scale, revive the general audience. Kinda the opposite of what they are doing with the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek lost its general appeal some time ago – to the extent that it ever had it, and now it is us diehard fans alone that keep what we can of it alive.

Baseball on the other hand, has also dwindled in popular appeal from what I can tell. Not exactly a scientific assessment mind you…But now that the impossible has in fact happened – and no I don’t need to specify what it was, if you don’t know that you probably haven’t understood a word I’ve said so far as it is and oh well – now that it has happened, the diehard fans feel rejuvenated even those that aren’t in the bluest of blue states and towing the local MLB party line. Yes, even some Yankees fans could breathe a sigh of relief last year. Because now we can, within the context of baseball as an enterprise, get back to the basics of baseball. No more talk of superstitions and curses and other assorted jabberwocky. Alice, stop wondering and play ball! Ok, admittedly a strange and possibly irrelevant reference but the truth is that baseball today really isn’t like Field of Dreams, it’s commercial, it’s big big salaries and big big egos (ok the latter hasn’t changed much but ya gotta admit there is a different undertone to it now).

And as such baseball is Alice. Wonderland is the changed times. And making the big $ is the thing, and that of course is the beautiful garden behind the keyhole. But what do you need to do to get through to the garden? Mind we aren’t concerned with going “home” (getting back to the days of thicker, heavier hickory bats perhaps?) – but with going somewhere that we believe would be better than where we are now. Somewhere nice. Over the rainbow. Ok – really mixing metaphors now. But check this – Alice, what does she do in that place of limbo as she hopes to find a way into the garden? She spies a bottle that says “drink me”(‘the clear’) and a cake that says “eat me” (‘the cream’). And now – we are in the garden, but the Queen wants our head: “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”, she shouts. And, of course we have the BALCO trial etc. Off with their heads. Only Alice doesn’t lose her head, and neither will baseball.

I have no idea if the steroid story will in fact boost ticket sales or anything else that equates to $-relevant renewed general interest in baseball, but I will say this – it can’t really hurt it at this point. The fans are too numerous and the game too culturally ingrained. So quit complaining about the steroid stories – quit watching them – and pay attention to spring training. Start wondering about the St. Louis Cardinals and if they’ve now got the pitching they need to stay on top in the National League Central…wonder about Carlos Beltran on the Mets, say goodbye to Roberto Alomar (thanks, man – you were fun to watch!), ponder the new owner of the Oakland A’s, setup your fantasy league if you are so inclined, and stock up on peanuts. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over*! Hockey on the other hand...

* borrowed from the fictional ball player Buck Bokai in Star Trek: Deep Space Nice "If Wishes Were Horses" which by the way is named after my favorite poem by Louis MacNiece "London Rain"

A brief disclaimer: my favorite sport to follow is actually not baseball and has always been soccer (futbol) but there are less opportunities to watch soccer matches, less of a social scene as far as my family is concerned (at least in the past) and friends (maybe I need new friends? J/K!). But who knows – maybe I will rant about soccer some day also! Stay tuned…