by Todd Pheifer

Created on: March 05, 2009

James Earl Jones' speech that he delivers towards the end of "Field of Dreams" probably best sums up the baseball experience. The article won't do it justice because written descriptions of movie scenes only describe part of the picture. James talks about sitting at the ballpark in one's shirtsleeves on a perfect day, and watching the game from a great seat along the third base side. People who have seen the film understand what he is talking about. This, for many fans, is the essence of baseball. Here are a few more thoughts on why baseball is a beautiful thing.

Nostalgia

For many people, baseball is about a time in their lives that was more innocent, or at least it seems that way in retrospect. Lots of adults went to baseball games with their fathers when they were in their younger years. These are often pleasant memories, and for those people who had tough childhoods, it might be one of the few happy memories. The ballparks seemed so big back then, so when some adults enter the stadium today, they have a rush of emotion that triggers memories of days gone by.

Pace

Some people lament the pace of baseball because for them it is too slow. Granted, it is not as "fast-paced" as football, basketball, hockey, or other sports. However, there is always action and there is always the possibility that something exciting will occur. The nice thing about baseball's pace is that one can also do other things. When at the park, people can have a conversation with their neighbor and still watch the game. Likewise, when people are at home they can watch the game and still do other things around the house without missing much of the action. Replay has helped in this regard as fans will likely see a play over and over again anyway.

Issues

Granted, baseball is not a perfect sport, by any stretch of the imagination. Even in the "good old days", baseball had it's problems. Lately Major League Baseball has dealt with a cloud of concerns involving steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. In some ways this frustrates the common fan but in other ways people just deal with the problems. Baseball has proven to be a resilient sport, and has weathered many controversies over the years. This particular issue will taint the recent era, but it is likely that the game will survive. Scandals do not change the fact that people enjoy watching a little baseball in the spring and rooting their team on to victory.

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