A plea: don’t give up baseball. It’s too important.
I get it. You’re knee-deep in the millionaire-to-billionaire conversation that has dominated this offseason, looking for the signs that baseball is coming to life — pictures of ballers in sunglasses throwing baseball under the shade of palm trees, conversations about rookies showing promise look or players who deserve a second chance. But due to Major League Baseball’s lockout, none of those reliable harbingers of spring are here. I do not blame you. This lockout feels like the last straw and you’re tempted to turn your back on the game. The usual criticism of baseball bubbles to the surface. Baseball is slow, non-contact, selfish and steeped in traditions no one remembers. Yes I understand. The game has been trying to hold onto your allegiance for years. That’s it. Enough.
But it’s time to take a deep breath and understand that baseball is great, and the same critics who love to subvert America’s pastime know that. They know that baseball can inspire, delight, and define three quarters of a calendar year. They love the game and as a result they struggle with the way things are managed. Is this about money? No, it is the game itself that is at stake. And I’m – along with my friends from every corner of the sports and entertainment world – on a mission to save it.
They say baseball is boring.
Of course they do. Our society has become the ultimate society for instant gratification, and the idea of baseball, the thinking man’s game, doesn’t exactly scratch where most sports fans itch. I get it. I was the kid who didn’t want to take the time to read the book and just dialed in the Spark Notes summary so I could get on with it. And that’s what it’s all about now.
For some, the whole business and beauty of baseball needs to be summed up in quotes, tweets and Instagram stories. There’s so much more I’ve learned.
The life-changing, memorable battles on and off the field. Unleashing a tidal wave of emotion from the hilltop on the World Series stage. “@#!&, Yes!” Defining lifelong relationships with hugs on the field at Dodger Stadium in late October meant everything. For me, it was all because of baseball.
Joe Kelly (right) poses with Dodgers teammates during their visit to the White House on July 2, 2021 to celebrate their 2020 World Series Championship.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
You may not think that this is an emotional game. Standing around too much. Picking flowers in the outfield. Talk, talk, talk and wait, wait, wait. Then boom! The heart rate increases for a few seconds. Then the cycle starts all over again.
That’s the knock. OK. But let me tell you that baseball can evoke the kind of emotions that life rarely offers. And just when you think you’ve figured out those feelings, something comes along that you didn’t expect.
I know. it happened to me
Baseball has given me a lot of wake up calls. Perhaps this is the time for one more for all of us.
This should be a reminder that baseball is a book, not a sentence.
Baseball is unlike any other sport where you can often watch the last few minutes of a game and get the gist. The NBA? The NFL? The NHL? what you see is what you get Nothing wrong with that. The fast pace, the tight focus on a moving object, the season’s TV rhythms – they’re all tailor-made for today’s fans. Baseball? It’s a little more complicated and that’s OK. Baseball is thought provoking. It makes you talk. Questions are asked and answered. Why is this player doing this or that? And when the answers come in, somehow the world always seems a little bit better.
If you are patient enough you can see that baseball is a combination of chess, ballet, classroom and cannon fire.
Watching bat flips, punch outs, home run robbing catches, and laser throws from the warning lane, it’s easy to recall all the feelings. Bathing in news of collective agreements, not so much.
We must not let this conversation slip away; We have to be diligent here and work hard to provide a path for more and more sports fans to understand the importance of baseball. This isn’t Amazon. I can’t order a dose of October postseason drama, drop it on your doorstep, and just quench your thirst for instant gratification. That’s not how baseball works. And that’s okay. It’s better than okay.
Why is this message so important to me and my baseball-playing brothers? Because maybe this is a crossroads. The momentum of 2021 was great. younger fans. More excitement. A real feeling that a new generation was starting to shop in. And now we’re at a screeching halt, stuck with baseball hype men in the form of industrial relations attorneys. Would I like to throw my mariachi jacket over Rob Manfred and start turning those boardroom frowns upside down? Naturally.
This is where we belong and for fans it’s a place where we can forget about jobs, workplaces and the end of the business world – and just be. Bring on the celebrations, colorful shoes and seven months of mayhem. Here, players can be personalities, not just numbers. Let’s not forget the pomp of it all. We have to trust that when the game comes back it will be there Better than ever and this is because we appreciate it more. I sincerely believe so.
All I ask is, while we wait, remember why it’s so important to you. Don’t forget why you own this player’s jersey. Don’t forget why you’re bringing this baseball glove to the game. Don’t forget why you felt compelled to ask these questions and receive these answers. Don’t forget why baseball is so great.
I haven’t and never will.
Joe Kelly is a major league baseball player who won the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and with the Dodgers in 2020.
@bbisntboring #baseballistnichtlangweilig
