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Baseball

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This was a tough choice. Both sports exhibit moments of inactivity. However, the question is which one is slowest to watch.

I hold the belief that baseball is the greatest sport to watch on the radio. Television just doesn't capture the true feeling of being there. Somehow, radio does.

Actually, being there live and in person the game seems a lot slower than on television. Whereas golf there is something always going on. Watching golf in person, is something I have not experienced, however, my father has. My father would play golf every single day if he could. I remember the days of my youth walking into the living room, seeing my father sacked out on the couch with Jack Nicklaus or Johnny Miller swinging a golf club on the tube.

After a few minutes of trying to wake him, I found it was easier to just change the channel. That usually brought him around quicker than anything.

Back to watching baseball.

I have been to a few professional baseball games in my time. Not a whole lot, but a few. All but one of them have been in St. Louis watching the Cardinals play the Mets, when a hot-shot rookie by the name of Dwight Gooden was tearing up the league, is one example. The only other game, was in Chicago. I got to see the Cubs defeat the Phillies on two Bill Buckner home runs. The Cubs also had some rookie on the team playing third base, Ryne Sandberg.

While attending the games was a fun experience, the actual game itself wasn't that much in the way of excitement. It was more fun to run up and down the stairs to the concession stand and then take a tour of the stadium.

Can baseball do anything to "speed up" the game. I don't believe so. The time between pitches, pitcher stepping off the mound, batter out of the batter box, changing pitchers, and quick 1-2-3 innings do not offer much to see. That is all part of the game, like it or not.

To some, it is the strategy and the play that make up for the inactivity. To many of these people, they enjoy the game in its pure form. However, for me there needs to be some spice in it.

By that I do not mean more bench-clearing brawls. That is what baseball doesn't need. But, maybe, how about, if one team is ahead by more than, say, three runs, the losing team's batter who made the last out in the previous inning gets to start on second base? Or, if the umpire feels the teams are taking too long to get ready for the next pitch, he warns both teams for delay of the game. After the second warning, every batter will start each at-bat with a 1 ball and 1 strike count? Let's put a little pressure on these guys!

These rules will never happen in the professional ranks, or most armatures either. But, it is kind of fun to see how George Stienbrenner would handle this. He would have to have his personal physician on stand by.

That is why I like baseball on the radio. The announcers are fun and lively, and actually talk about a whole lot more than just the "action" on the field.

Learn more about this author, Michael Burke.
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