Show Major League Baseball some love

If you missed Mookie Betts singlehandedly beating the Nationals on Tuesday, or if you don’t know who or what a “Mookie Betts” is, this column is for you — it’s time you learned how to love baseball.

Maybe it was once a sport you enjoyed back in the days of tee-ball or coach pitch, or maybe you’ve just always considered yourself “more of a football person.” Either way, if you don’t particularly enjoy America’s pastime — and it is indeed still America’s pastime — allow me to address some of the things that may be holding you back.

First, I understand football dominates the attention of sports fans for at least six months out of the year. Whether your team is a contender or a miserable collection of has-beens, you’re still guaranteed 16 weeks of football, the postseason and a Super Bowl party where you cheer against whoever has possession of the ball.

But even for the most dedicated fans, football’s offseason is comparatively uneventful. In season we’re treated to weekly highlight reels of Antonio Brown ninja-kicking an opponent right in the face, Tom Brady’s teammates repeatedly leaving him hanging and Kam Chancellor putting the fear of God into Carolina’s field goal kicker by leaping over the entire O-line.

The offseason for football is important, but some people just keep treating it as if it’s still delivering that level of entertainment. As much as I enjoy Chip Kelly’s chaotic wheeling and dealing and the complete decimation of the 49ers’ roster, there are other things happening in sports.

Since when was watching Adam Shefter report on the latest team that may or may not be interested in Marcus Mariota preferable to watching actual sporting events — like baseball’s opening weekend?

“Well there’s like 200 baseball games and only one NFL draft,” you say — fair enough, there are tons of baseball games on from now until October. Maybe that’s why non-baseball fans have trouble converting. It’s not as easy to be a casual fan as it is in basketball or football.

Almost nobody watches every baseball game their team plays and nobody is really expected to. That means broader story lines, like who’s pitching well, who’s regularly slugging home runs and where your team stands in the playoff race molds the story arc of the season, even if you only catch one game in five. The MLB playoffs are some of the most intense games you’ll see in any sport but only if you’ve been following your team’s season and know what’s on the line.

There are also two months of NBA playoffs and the NHL postseason to keep up with just as baseball’s season begins, but that shouldn’t be much of a stumbling block. As previously stated, you don’t need to watch every baseball game, and the playoff race doesn’t heat up until summer anyway.

But once the NBA crowns its champion and the NHL playoffs come to a close, it’s like we treat baseball as some sort of consolation prize. That’s sad. It’s not some filler sport to pass the time; it’s quite the opposite. It stands alone from the other three major North American sports, almost as if the sports gods are saying “Look, it’s summer now. Everyone stop and pay attention to baseball for a little bit.”

So instead of spending your next six months analyzing draft picks and waiting for football season to arrive, consider tuning in and watching Nolan Arenado leap into the San Francisco crowd to snag a near-uncatchable foul ball, or Sonny Gray flirt with a no-hitter, or Mookie Betts steal two bases at once.

Just don’t root for the Yankees.

— Logan Jones is a junior majoring in journalism. He has no idea how Alex Rodriguez is allowed to show up to work in the morning, seeing as he’s been caught lying about his steroid usage twice now. Guess playing for the Yankees makes that sort of thing okay. Contact Logan at logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu or on Twitter @Logantj.