Back in 2015, America made the decision to change their favorite pastime of 100 years to the game of football. Baseball was surpassed by football, in a voting poll done by Bloomberg Politics, with more than 40 percent of people voting for the contact sport over baseball.
The game of baseball has been around for over 170 years and it has been the heart and soul of American sporting culture. It has created moments no other professional sport can compare too as well as memories no one will ever forget for the remainder of time.
Babe Ruth, back in 1932 in the third game of the World Series, was down to his last strike and then pointed to the center field wall of Wrigley Stadium.
The man was calling his shot.
The Babe then swung his bat and cracked the ball over the right-center field wall to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead in what is one of the most iconic images in all of sports.
Lou Gehrig gave his famous speech seven years later in which he knew his life would be over soon but still considered himself, “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
Bo Jackson, the multiple sport phenomenon, caught an un-expecting Harold Reynolds at home after he threw the ball over three hundred yards from deep left to home plate just in time.
In most recent events, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 106 years. The longest drought ever in the extended history of professional sports was broken in what seemed to be a miracle game seven.
Moments like these are edged in history and could never be replaced. Baseball has this effect on its fans to draw them in a feel a certain way no other game on planet Earth can produce.
Therefore, when spring baseball comes around, fans from around the country are brought together for a certain cause. That cause is to sit down for three hours with a refreshing brewed beer in one hand, and a hot dog in the other.
Football does have its perks: big men hitting each other while a ball flies through the air leaving the fans in a moment of exhilarating suspense; however, that same feeling could not repeat itself over 162 times a year.
Opening day in itself is a special American tradition in which nothing else can come close to being as special. The image of the gigantic American flag spread across the outfield with both teams lined up along the first and third base lines, the confetti falling down with the 60,000 plus fans screaming their hearts out because the game they love has returned.
That first day of baseball is just a taste of what is to come for the whole season. 162 games are played every season and because there are so many games, the amazing perk of waking up the next day to experience it all over again is the best feeling there is.
Baseball can never be replaced as America’s favorite pastime. Football and other sports may get more views or draw the more fans; however, baseball fans are loyal and dedicated and they carry that tradition for generation after generation. Not much can be said for anything else.
