IT’S =
WORLD SERIES TIME! [In the middle of football season. =
Duh.]
Baseball is different from any other sport. For instance, =
in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In =
most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; =
in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the =
defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an =
offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he’s out; sometimes =
unintentionally, he’s out.
Also, in football, basketball, soccer, =
volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball =
and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.
In most =
sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a =
manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same =
clothing the players do.
Baseball & =
Football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And =
as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about =
ourselves and our values:
Baseball is a nineteenth-century =
pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological =
struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond, in a baseball =
park.
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes =
called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.
Baseball begins in =
the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall when =
everything’s dying.
In Baseball you wear a cap.
In Football =
you wear a helmet.
Baseball is concerned with ups – who’s =
up?
Football is concerned with downs – what down is it?
In =
Baseball you make an error.
In Football you actually receive a =
penalty.
In Baseball the specialist comes to relieve =
somebody.
In Football the specialist comes to kick.
Baseball =
is about the sacrifice.
Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, =
piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary =
roughness.
Baseball, if it rains or the field is wet, everything =
is cancelled and no one plays.
Football is played in any kind of =
weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog.
Baseball has the seventh =
inning stretch.
Football has the two-minute warning.
Baseball =
has no time limit: we don’t know when it will end – might have extra =
innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we’ve got =
to go to sudden death.
In Baseball stands during the game, =
there’s kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but =
there’s not much unpleasantness and lots of hot dogs eaten.
In =
Football stands during the game, you can be sure that at least thirty =
times you’ll be capable of taking the life of a fellow human =
being.
And finally, the objectives of the two games are =
completely different:
In Football the object is for the =
quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his =
aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with =
deadly accuracy despite of a blitz, even if he uses a shotgun. With =
short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy =
territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack =
that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive =
line.
In Baseball the object is to get home and just be =
safe.
[adapted]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net =
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"