Baseball...

last thursday my good friend ben wrote in his blog about the un-uniformity of america's baseball fields. stating the facts that while football fields do not change dimensions, from week to week, and basketball courts do not move the height of the goal. so why do baseball fields come in different dimensions, field shapes? it is a good observations. while making his point he suggested that all baseball fields be made uniformed in shape, size, and dimensions. and to keep to the statistical part of the game stats will be filed as: T.E.A.M. (the era ahead of modern) and M.E.(modern era).

all good points and well thought out, but he did not take into consideration the most important part of the game, the sentiment, traditions, and americanism that is baseball.

imagine this, you are on a road trip, or a business trip, you fly out of new york to chicago, and while you are landing you glance out the window to the same view that you had when you took off. houston, looks like l.a., and denver, and miami to boston. that's what it would be like if you made all the baseball fields uniform. the fact that they are all different is half the excitement of the game! take into example the following stadiums...

wrigley field, home of the chicago cubs. first notable thing you recognized coming into the stadium is the green ivy that covers the out field walls, the image of multiple all-stars, and countless other players crashing into the wall catching a deep fly ball. the white nautical flag that flies when the cubs win, or the bullpen that is in playable foul territory. or when the cubs win, the stadium speakers blast harry carey saying "cubs win! cubs win!"

yankee stadium, new york yankees. could you imagine it being referred as "the house that palmer, scott, and witmore built just like the others"?? no! it's "the house that ruth built" the only thing you see when you get off the subway. the right field that never got extended out to fit the center and left field walls. where else would they put the bullpen? where would the bleacher creatures sit?? or what about the 82 foot backstop? one of the defining characteristics of yankee stadium. and hearing 'ol blue eyes singing "new york, new york" right after the yankees win! nothing else like it.

finally... my favorite

fenway park, home of the boston red sox. coming off the red line, and walking down historic yawkey way, and entering the park, there you see it, you hear about it, see it in pictures, but nothing does it justice like seeing it in person... the green monster! the defining characteristic of fenway park! it's absolutely amazing, i could not, and do not want to think what fenway would be without it. next, the right field, the whole section! first its only 302 feet to pesky's pole, the shortest in all the majors, and most college fields. "williamsburg", the given name for the bullpen in right as well, 23 feet closer to home plate. not to take into consideration that the whole damn park is unfriendly to left handed pitchers. and lets not forget section 42 row 37 seat 21, also known as ted williams' red seat, for the longest home run in a regulation ball game 502 feet. and the signing of neil diamond's "sweet caroline" during the seventh inning stretch. fenway in one word "timeless"!!!

baseball is something that is america, we all have it in our blood. now i played football for the better part of ten years of my life, but honestly i cannot remember my first football game, whether it was the cowboys or the oilers, i cannot recall. but i do remember my first baseball game. i was 5 years old houston astros vs. the philadelphia phillies. houston won 5-2 and nolan ryan pitched a complete game.

now i do realize that the sport here recently has been tainted by allegations, and actual use of steroids. we as fans of the game need to let the players, managers, and commissioner know what we truly think about it. its taking the sport out of it. and is setting the wrong message to the future kids of the sport. and hopefully it will pass like the scandals of the past.

so making baseball so uniform would be taking the exact element that is baseball out of baseball. whether it be your dad showing you how to snap your glove close, the smell of the fresh cut grass, seeing your favorite player for the first time, and enjoying the parks home hot dog. it all goes away once you uniform everything that is the sport.

i leave you with a great quote from a great movie... enjoy!

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again."--- Field of Dreams


~R~