'Tis the Season (Baseball)

Football season is long gone. March Madness just ended last night. It'll soon be playoff season in pro basketball and hockey. The College World Series isn't too far off into the distance. But, just yesterday was the opening day for most professional baseball teams.

It's the least important opening day amongst all professional sports. Heck, it may be the least important opening day amongst all sports. Why is this? They play 162 games in the baseball season! That's more games than pro basketball (82), college basketball (30), pro football (16), and college football (12) teams combined in a regular season. Heck, you add all those games up, come out to 140, so there are still 22 games left over in the baseball regular season. That's how LONG the baseball season is. It never seems to end. After they've played 81 games (almost the finishing point for basketball teams), they call that the midway point in the season. Just the midway point!

Baseball games are so long too. There isn't a set time, like there is in football, basketball, or hockey. Hockey gets three 20 minute periods. Football gets four 15 minute quarters. Basketball gets either two 20 minute halves (college) or four 12 minute quarters (pro). In baseball, there is no time limit. You go nine innings and if you are tied at the end of nine, you keep going until one team can outscore the other after an inning is finalized.

There isn't much action in baseball games either. To many, they may seem longer than they actually are. Basketball is a fast-paced up and down sport. Hockey is full of big hits and fights. Football is in between the two other sports, as it is physical, yet fast at times. But, baseball? The most action going on at a baseball game is in the stands with people doing the wave, chants, drinking beer, and eating peanuts.

Ahh, 'tis the season- a 162 game season that never seems to end. The best way to go about it is to skip the games and catch up on highlights on either SportsCenter or Baseball Tonight. Either that or go to a wild sports bar. That could make the season a bit more enjoyable as well. I'll try both routes and see which I like better.