Another Perpective: The Beauty of Baseball

RT Staff Note: We will continue to showcase writings from fans that like to write about how baseball makes them feel and affects their lives. Here's another piece of prose from Kenneth Schonmeir.

By Kenneth Schonmeier

The sun, a golden globe up in the sky, caresses you with its warming touch. The breeze that brushes against your skin as it passes by, leaving in its wake the scent of fresh air. The constant buzz of the crowds along with the occasional vendor shouting out the word "Hot-dogs"! The distinct crack of the ball meeting the bat and the babble of the fans turning into a loud cheer. These are a few of the simple yet beautiful things about baseball that reminds us all that the harsh and freezing winter is gone to be replaced by the comfort of spring.

There are those who believe Baseball to be boring and slow. There are those who will try to say that baseball does not take enough talent and athleticism. For every one of those who say these things, I will show you someone who has no idea what they are talking about. Baseball may not have the rough, blood spitting image that football has. It may not have the stamina and athleticism of basketball. Baseball is still the most difficult sport to play well. No other sport is one considered to be a great player when successful only one third of the time. In baseball if one hits for a .333 average, they are having an all-star season. In no other sport does a player have a fraction of a second to decide if a ball is in the strike zone, whether it is a fastball or off-speed pitch and still swing the bat and hit it. There is a special grace to a shortstop reacting to a hard grounder and shuffling across to snag it before it gets by, then turn and throw a hard strike to the first-baseman. There is something special to seeing a fielder making a diving catch or turning to watch a ball sail over the wall.

If one is not at the game, there is still something special about being able to listen to the game on the radio. That first day when the weather is warm enough to drive with the window down and the game playing on the radio. There is a camaraderie that develops when another driver pulls up next to you and asks you what the score is.

Whether one is at the game, watching the game or listening to the game, there is so much beauty to soak in. Yet the most beautiful time is when one gets to play the game. To be out there in the field, waiting to react to the ball. The feel of the bat in your hands. The exhilaration of running down a fly ball and making a shoe string catch. Baseball is our national past time and there is a good reason for it. There is something special about the sport that can only be described so much and however much one tries, they can do it no true justice.