Baseball: America’s alleged ‘favorite pastime.’ That said, in our present nation, that seems farthest from the truth. Think of the most relevant sports in recent years, and I’ll guarantee you that baseball is not one of them. Americans throw large barbecues for the Super Bowl, have friendly bracket competitions during March Madness, and keep tabs on the World Cup every 4 years. But who cares about the World Series? Did you even know that it started yesterday?
Baseball’s unpopularity could be due to a variety of factors, but I’m sure one has been heard the most above all others: Baseball is boring. After a night of field research at Wrigley Field, I can confidently say that that claim is wrong, at least partially.
When I attended the Cubs v. Mets game on September 23rd, I had 4 separate variables in mind that would decide whether or not baseball is fun to watch: The gameplay itself, the ambiance, the price, and the bonus content.
We’ll start with the price, seeing as going to a game costs money. My father and I bought two seats in the upper deck along the first baseline for $42 each. Usually, most upper deck seats at ballparks have wide views of the game because of how big the fields are. Every stadium is unique, but most MLB fields are generally an off-square shape with side lengths from 300-400 feet, or around 100,000 square feet in total area. For context, an NFL football field is a bit larger than half that size, at 57,600 square feet.
When considering price, some might factor in the price of the food, and while it is true that food at sporting events is wildly overpriced, it’s not a make or break factor. If my father and I were to include the total cost of our food in our 2 tickets, each one would only cost $15 more. Since good seats really don’t have to be that expensive, we’ll say that the overall price of a baseball game is more of a positive aspect than a negative one.
The next category is the gameplay, arguably the most important factor of them all. A game of baseball is played in 9 segments called ‘innings’, where each inning both teams trade off on offense (batting) and defense (pitching). Inning times can vary drastically, but are usually around 20 minutes long, placing the total time of a game, with no overtime, at about 3 hours.
Each pitch is exciting, where you, as a spectator, are either hoping for a good hit from the batter, or wishing for an easy strikeout.
When the batters start running bases, your brain becomes occupied with tracking the position of the ball in relation to the runner, and if that means that they’ll get out or not. If a spectator is paying attention (which they mostly should be if they bought tickets to a game), then their brain has no space for boredom and therefore cannot get bored. But that still leaves the spaces in between batters and half-innings, which brings me to our next category.
These breaks in playtime are always filled with bonus content. The umbrella term of bonus content covers all the aspects of a live game that aren’t a part of the gameplay. For example, music is played when a batter walks up to home plate, during a pitching change, and at random moments by the organist. During the inning breaks, activities or promotional videos are broadcasted on the jumbotron for the guests’ entertainment. Also, between the top and bottom half of the 7th inning, fans will stand up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Bonus content keeps the audience engaged and entertained, so it’ll be scored positively on my scale.
That leaves the final category: the ambiance. Not to sound like one of the exaggerated promotional videos that they play before the games, but walking through the tunnels really is a fun experience. Every fan is happy to be there, and you can feel the energy in the air, especially on a day with great weather. When the home team makes a solid play, all of their fans cheer in unison. Even the shouts of the visiting team’s fans are still surprisingly loud. I’ve even seen people who were paying no attention at all to the game get up from their seats to join in with the masses.
After an examination through 4 categories, I can still confidently say that baseball is not boring, with every factor being on the positive side rather than the negative. So, in that case, why do people say that baseball is boring? It’s likely because they simply don’t have the attention span for such a static game. That, combined with the way baseball is watched on TV. The television format only satisfies two categories of our examination. Additionally, consider the weird cuts and angles of televised baseball, and compare them to the smooth, drawn-out panning of football or basketball. Baseball really doesn’t translate that well to TV.
So, the next time you hear someone say “Oh, baseball is so boring,” just know that they lack the patience or initiative to see the sport for what it truly is. Deep down, you now know that baseball is as fun or boring as any other sport; you just have to watch it in person, in the most fun way possible.
