March Madness is probably the most popular season of the sports year. The NFL always gets it’s love, basketball is growing in popularity, and the NHL really picks up steam in the playoffs. But none of them compare to the MLB playoffs, which return tonight.
People like to hate on baseball, calling it boring, and in dumber cases easy. I understand how 162 nine inning games might not be for everyone. But good lord if you’re a sports fan just watch one playoff baseball game. Strategically, it’s an entirely different sport. It skyrockets in terms of stakes, strategy, and talent.
Regular season baseball is largely defined by who can put a quality team out every day. Unlike the NFL, the best teams in the league win somewhere between sixty and seventy percent of their games. Any team can beat any other team, and when four games is enough to end your season or send you to glory, it becomes intense. It’s a bunch of highly talented children frantically playing with a ball, and it’s awesome.
If you need proof of what postseason baseball can look like, tune into ESPN at eight o’clock tonight. The Phillies are attempting to make another run in the playoffs, and there will be 40,000 drunk idiots to show you exactly what a big moment looks like. Wait for the first home run. It might register an earthquake in Philadelphia.
Baseball is never going to be as popular as other sports, but it shouldn’t stop you from fully enjoying one of the best times of the sports calendar. Place parlays, curse Joe Buck out through your tv, and hit anyone who tells you the pitch clock is essential.
