Reply #10: Some good points; thank you [View All]

I'd argue, though, that in few sports (that is, none that I can think of) do teams play offense and defense simultaneously. Rather, in sports such as hockey, soccer and basketball, players' roles may abruptly switch from one to the other.

The separate offense and defense is something I've always appreciated in baseball as it requires players to be multi-faceted and yet part of the same team. The same holds in other sports, but you also find many players — particularly in basketball — with unbalanced skills. (Come to think of it, does anybody in the NBA play defense anymore?) This is also true of baseball, but it's less common. Catchers, shortstops and second basemen can get away with lesser batting skills if they excel on defense, but that's about it. Everyone else has to hit his way into the lineup — except pitchers, of course.

As for stops and starts — well, one typically hears "Baseball is boring" from football fans, yet I can think of no sport with more stops and starts than football. In addition, nothing happens during the 30 seconds between plays in a football game, but much happens between pitches in baseball, if you know what to look for.

I can't argue the over-emphasis on stats nor the "poetry" of baseball espoused by George Will et al. I happen to agree with the latter, but I can understand how others wouldn't. It can come off a bit like proselytizing, I admit.

And, yeah, the season is rather long now. I liked it better when there were 20 teams and the World Series ended around Oct. 10. Baseball should not be played when there's snow on the ground, IMHO.

How long have you been an LSU fan? I met Will Clark during his three months in the minor leagues after the Giants drafted him.