I think that baseball can be enjoyed in many different ways. My wife and I will sometimes be remembering old baseball games, and we will remember such different sets of things that it is hard to tell whether we are remembering the same game or not. Of course, we have been to 400 or 600 games together, so. . .it's not easy. She will remember whether we went with anyone else or not, whether there were people setting near us, whether the weather was comfortable or not, and funny things that happened at the game, usually will remember who we were playing. I will remember who the starting pitchers were, the score of the game (not precisely, but generally. . .not whether it wound up 6-5 vs 7-5 or 9-1 vs. 12-1). . .whether there were any unusual or controversial plays, any questionable decisions. Sometimes we can put it together, sometimes not.
If you're a left-brain person, organized, data-driven, baseball appeals to people like us. If you're a reader, baseball has wonderful fiction and wonderful history. If you're young, baseball has appeals to the young; if you are old, it appeals to the older. If you are an artist, it appeals to you through the beauty of the parks and the beauty of the game. If you like to sit and watch TV, it's always on TV in the summer (except this year). If you like to have STUFF, baseball has lots of stuff to collect. If you like to do things with friends, baseball is a place you can go with your friends. If you're athletic and active, baseball is something you can DO. If you have children, baseball is something you can do with your children. No matter what kind of person you are, baseball has a way of reaching out to you and including you. There's no right way to do it or wrong way to do it.
- Bill James, answering a Hey Bill, 7-24-20
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