Why I Enjoy Baseball

I almost titled this "Why I Love Baseball", but I realize that might be a bit too strong. As things stand right now the Indians are trying to fight off the Tigers to win the AL Central. On Sunday they learned that the Tigers had already beaten the Yankees before their game ended. Things were looking dire as they were down 3-2 in Kansas City. They were wasting another great pitching performance with no offense. After two quick outs in the ninth it was up to Grady Sizemore.

Sizemore got down in the count 1-2. As the 1-2 pitch came in you could hear a cheer start through the crowd, but Tom Hamilton called it, "JUUUUST a bit high...2 and 2". He took another ball and then looped one into left center in no-man's land. The center fielder dove for the ball, but couldn't come up with it (more great Hammy drama there too). I don't know where the left fielder was, but before the center fielder could recover and get the ball in Sizemore was on second. The next batter was the rookie infielder Asdrubal Cabrera who promptly lined the first pitch for a base hit which tied the game. Apparently the pitcher just wanted to get one over and Cabrera was ready for it. He advanced to second on the throw home, but Hafner made the last out to end the inning. Nevertheless, the damage was done.

The Indians scored 2 in the 11th, starting with Hafner's RBI single. Borowski miraculously made quick work of the Royals in the bottom of the 11th and the Tribe maintained their 2.5 game lead over the Tigers.

I like how baseball doesn't have a clock. As I think about it, I'm pretty sure that baseball and tennis are the only sports where it is always possible to come back. It may not be likely, but it is possible. I like how the Indians kept playing until they made 27 outs. It gives me some hope that they may hold on for the playoffs after all.

Yesterday they turned a 5-4-3 triple play. It helps that the catcher was batting, but it was still a nice one. Going all the way around-the-horn is not trivial.