The Giants and Baseball: More Than Just a Pastime

Baseball.  America's pastime.  A sport where grown men in uniform wage war using gloves, balls, bats, and their bodies -  where enormous sums of money are given to players to do nothing more than hit a ball with a bat - where tens of thousands come to watch and cheer on their team in stadiums larger than mansions - where hundreds of thousands of televisions tune in just to watch for a few numbers or images... yes, baseball.  Why do we do it?  Why do we devote so much of our time and attention to something that on its surface appears so meaningless, especially to those who rarely watch it?

The answer is simple.  It's more than just a sport.  A baseball field is where hearts and dreams are made - and where they are broken.  It's a place where thousands of fans - strangers or not - can connect and bond, because on that field, for those three or four hours after the symbolic first pitch ritual and the emphatic "LET'S PLAY BALL" call from the hoarse-voiced umpire, nothing else matters.  There is but one purpose, one desire, one duty, and one common uniting dream, shared by thousands who would otherwise have absolutely no connection to each other - a goal of bringing home a championship.

Yes, it is true that these fans will never truly physically possess a trophy, but physical possession is not the only way to cherish a triumph.  When a fan sees his team win a championship, an inexplicable joy and happiness fills his heart - a euphoria unlike any other.  Because in that period - those fleeting days or weeks - his years or decades of devotion, faith, and loyalty have paid off.  All the time spent praying for miracles, pleading to the skies for just one more win, agonizing over heartbreaking defeats - it's all rewarded, it's all given meaning.

Even when one's own team is not the one celebrating, baseball gives us reason to believe - not just in the sport, but in life as well.  Who could forget when the little known Arizona Diamondbacks rallied off the presumably unhittable Mariano Rivera to win its first ever World Series over the big bad Yankees?  Or the time that Dave Roberts, now forever enshrined in Red Sox lore, stepped up to become a hero and stole the base of his lifetime with two down in the bottom of the 9th?  Every baseball match is essentially a David-versus-Goliath battle, a fight between good and evil, an altruistic struggle for an underdog trying to topple a favorite.

The times that the team we root for doesn't win - we are reminded of the realities of life.  Sometimes, we don't always get what we want.  Evil can prevail over good, David will lose most of the time, the rich obnoxious stud sometimes does get the girl, and tragedy isn't limited to Korean dramas.  These losses, however heartbreaking or disappointing, teach us about the downside of life.  From these losses, we learn to move on and to not only accept defeat, but to get up from it and come back strong the next day.  True fans are not defined by their devotion in times of joy.  They are defined by their resiliency in times of peril - by the fact that they still stand in pouring rain, to root on their last-place team in a meaningless game - by the fact that they still care, even if no miracle could possibly save their team - by the fact that they refuse to turn off the television, even when their team is being slaughtered.  True fans, and true people for that matter, are defined by their strength in times of crisis, not in times of celebration.

But the times that they do succeed - the times that the miracles do happen - these moments inspire us.  When we see the underdog prevail over the giant obstacle in its way, even when it isn't our own team pulling off the miracle, we are inspired and motivated.  We are reminded of what we can do, of our own potential, of our own possibilities.  Suddenly, our own problems become less daunting, our obstacles less tall, the climb ahead less steep.  A sense of vitality and inexplicable joy fills our veins, reinforcing our devotion to the sport.  These are the moments that true fans live for - to feel the awe and splendor of seeing the impossible happen.

In the movie "Fever Pitch" (Yes, shut up, I was bored and watched it.), one of the characters said, "Sometimes, it's nice to devote your soul to something that you have absolutely no control over," or something like that.  In a way, baseball is a religion.  You have Christianity, I have the Giants.  It's always there for you, whether your life is in shambles or couldn't be better.  You can always turn on the radio and forget about your day's worries.  A religion serves its purpose in society not because we care about whether God exists, but because it teaches us certain values and provides us with comfort in times of need.  Baseball teaches us how to deal with the ups and downs of life and to never give up, even when the odds aren't in our favor.  It serves as an outlet that anyone can turn to in any situation.  It is impartial to our actions and our problems - it's a constant in a tumultuous world.  Whether you just went bankrupt or got dumped by the love of your life, baseball will remain the same - pitchers will still be throwing balls and batters will still be swinging at them.  It is this consistency that defines baseball and it's this consistency that makes it such a great pastime.

With all that said, opening day is upon us - LETS PLAY BALL.