Still a great game

The last time I left you I was talking about my retirement from my day job, which felt pretty good. We all reach those times in our lives when it is time to do something else and we need to let someone else do our job and hopefully get as much satisfaction out of it that we did.

So if you thought I had retired from doing everything when you didn’t see a column last week I apologize. I’ve been asked a lot of times how I come up with ideas for this part of the paper and I usually say that some things just happen and almost write themselves.

Then there are those times when I’ve got nothing. No ideas or anything that sounds interesting will enter my head, which is bothersome.

I’ve got a couple ideas for this week, but not something that is earth shattering. I’m not going to write about World Cup soccer because most of the people that read this column probably have watched more games than I have. And they can probably name the star of most of the teams.

I can’t and there is nothing worse than fabricating a story in order to draw interest. Sorry soccer fans.

I have been watching baseball lately as in the Seattle Mariners variety as well as the College World Series.

I’m not going to write about either one of those since I don’t want to jinx the Mariners and it is difficult to write about college baseball since I don’t pay attention to the teams like I do with college football and basketball.

Blame the hype I guess. The college game is fun but I still don’t like the sound an aluminum bat makes as compared to the wooden variety.

Baseball is a unique sport that has been around since before the Civil War. The National League was formed in 1876 and the American League in 1893. The distance between bases is 90-feet and the distance from the pitching rubber to home plate is 60’ 6”. Those dimensions are different for Little League of course.

From there it can vary for how big the foul areas are and what the outfield dimensions are.

We all know that the outfield at Safeco Field was moved closer to home plate since it was so difficult to hit a home run there. That, more than anything, may have been the reason Ken Griffey, Jr., departed the Emerald City to play for Cincinnati.

Nobody questions home run distances even if they barely clear the wall. A 330 foot home run is just as much of a statistic as a 450 foot dinger and no one questions it because we are too busy high fiving each other when our team hits one.

In football we say the field goal was good from 50 yards or from 20. In basketball we give an extra point if the shot was made beyond the three-point mark. But in baseball it is only worth one run as long as it clears the fence.

I know people say that baseball is boring, but if you really pay attention you realize that every pitch changes the way a batter or a pitcher think. The defenders are also talking to themselves about what they will do in two or three scenarios.

Some think that baseball is an easy game to play but a good hitter bats in the neighborhood of .300 as in 3 hits in 10 at bats on average. So the batter fails 7 out of 10 times and is a good hitter.

If LeBron James or Steph Curry made 3 out of every 10 shots they take there is a good chance the coach would tell them to start shooting layins instead.

The NFL and NBA draft often will determine what team made huge strides and could very well put themselves into a playoff position in a year or two.

Very seldom will you see a player that gets drafted into the Major Leagues that will even see the big time for at least three years if they are lucky. Most young talent will play most if not all of their careers in the minor leagues.

John Olerud (WSU) is an exception. He went from pitching and playing first base for the Cougars to playing for the Toronto Blue Jays completely skipping the minors. A beautiful talent he was for sure.

Baseball is unique in many ways. It is the only game where the defense has control of the ball.

The game is not timed although they are trying to speed the game up but limiting mound visits and the time one gets to visit. But the play is not timed and never will be otherwise it wouldn’t be baseball.

Baseball is still a great game and the next time you get a chance to see a game put yourself in the player’s shoes and the game will be a lot more exciting for you.