On Tuesday night, some friends and I went out to celebrate our friend Carrie’s birthday.
Actually, when we celebrate her birthday it’s usually a dual celebration. My birthday is the next day (yesterday), so the night always turns into a fun night.
During the night’s festivities, I was talking to Mark, our resident Brit and our friend Jen’s new husband. We started to get into a conversation about sports because the New York Mets and Florida Marlins game was on the big screen at the bar.
He was talking about soccer, rugby, cricket, and other sports myself and most other Americans could really care less about. Then we got to the topic of baseball.
He was having a hard time understanding what attracted people to the game because the pace is very slow and the action could be few and far between. My response is that there is action on every pitch, it just depends on what you as a fan appreciate more—offense or pitching.
Now, trying to explain the art of pitching to someone who doesn’t understand the game of baseball is a useless endeavor, though if we had sat down yesterday to watch some baseball, I could have shown him the beauty of baseball from two different perspectives.
Yesterday, we saw a slugfest in both San Francisco and Colorado and we saw a solid pitcher’s duel in Washington.
The Colorado Rockies overcame a nine-run deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves 12-10. It was an old-fashioned, straight from the mid-90s offensive explosion in Colorado.
Todd Helton (3-for-5), Seth Smith (2-for-4 with a HR), and Carlos Gonzalez (2-for-4 with a walk) led the comeback for the Rockies. And the Rockies by the way, are only four games back of the Wild Card race. Here they come again.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ryan Dempster and Jason Marquis engaged in a solid pitcher’s duel in Washington.
For seven innings, Dempster and Marquis matched each other goose egg for goose egg.
The game had action, but in a different way.
The game featured two pitchers who don’t have overpowering stuff, but both were keeping hitters off balance and making solid pitches when it mattered most.
The Cubs eventually broke through in the eighth to beat the Nationals 4-0.
Yesterday was another great example of why people like me love baseball. Every game offers something different, but offers aspects that everyone can appreciate.
Once you can figure out what aspect of the game you want to appreciate, then you will fall in love with the game of baseball. Even if you are British.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @theghostofmlg
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