The 4 big American Sports: Baseball

The second sport that will get an analysis is Baseball. To be honest, this game is the least fun and entertaining sport I have ever seen. The more I try to pay attention, the less I actually manage to see as you get too hung up on not falling asleep. Still there are some charming parts about it.

While I have experienced many boring things in my life, Baseball takes boredom to entire new levels and make you wish you could watch paint dry if it was not for my friends. I had, unconsciously, seen a couple of baseball matches, before I went to the legendary Fenway Park. Baseball is apparently the number one background TV in USA, and I realized it going into this game, because I had seen this field a lot during the first months.

Fenway park

I have to say that Fenway park is something to experience. Built in 1912, with now a capacity of 37,731, it feels old, and full of so many great stories. The weird shape of it, compared to ‘normal’ squared stadiums gives it a strange look, and makes some seats at the stadium so much better than other. So while you can sit close to where they are actually hitting the ball, you can also choose to sit, what seems like, three kilometers away.

The game

So as the true newbies we are, we came approximately two hours before the game, where there already was surprisingly many people to be a sports game. A lot of those people were working at the countless bars at the stadium, selling 330 ml of beers for 10$, but there were a large number of spectators in the stadium already. Most of them taking advantage of the fact that there are countless bars at the stadium. And that is probably a good idea, because the amount of alcohol that needs the be consumed to make this sport interesting is quite high.

We came into the game with a very minimum knowledge about the game, but luckily, we had experienced baseball athletes with us. After going through the rules, we felt quite ready, and the game finally got going. One throw, two throw, three throw, four throw, five throws. After no less than eight throws the player hit the ball, and the crowd…did not care at all. Turns out you only get one out if the pitcher hits over that tiny white square thing, or base. So they can pretty much stand and prepare to hit the ball, change their minds, and not try to hit it indefinitely, as long as the pitcher does not hit over the base. Not the stuff of an entertaining sport.

Watching this for three hours is tiering, and your willingness to pay attention gets reduced by every throw that is not a hit. You suddenly find yourself either at the bar, talking to someone new, or talking to your friends to avoid falling asleep. For me, that is what baseball seem to be about. Friends and family come together to watch a sport that is so boring you have to be social, and that is a part of the charm. The overall experience of the sport was a 0 on a scale of 1 to 10, but the overall experience of the game was better. You get to talk to your friends, meet people, and drink some beer. The stuff of a nice evening.

Fun fact: The New York Times bought a 17,5% of The Boston Red Sox in 2002, while Fenway Sports Group bought the remaining 82,5%. This was the first acquisition of the company since 1933.