Hello and welcome to spring — the season of blooming, bunnies, and baseball.
This week’s post is brought to you by my friend Will Severns.
Will lives in Kansas City and co-founded Streamline Books, which helps prospective authors write, edit, and publish their books alongside a team of professionals. He also sends out a monthly newsletter, The Porcupine. Check it out here.
That’s Will on the surface. But I know he’s most proud of his marriage to Lauren, fatherhood to two kiddos (Branch, Wynnie, and a third baby due any day in March!), and…his love for baseball.
Whether you’re a fan or consider it “the most boring sport ever” Will shares his words below — on two reasons why America needs baseball in 2024.
On a national level, 2024 will deliver two things in spades: technological advancement and societal division.
If one or both of those realities scare you, allow the following to soothe your soul — if even just an ounce.
America needs baseball (yes, a game) now more than ever.
To Combat Technology
We live in front of our screens. That’s not news to anyone. Your friends, family, and colleagues spend copious amounts of time in front of a screen.
And with each passing day, our screens (and the technology powering what’s delivered through those screens) become all the more consuming.
Yet there is power in turning attention to another “t” word technology will never take over: tradition.
Tradition is why we eat at a table with family, go on vacation with friends, and make time to read for personal gain or enjoyment.
Part of my family’s tradition points to something dubbed as “America’s pastime”: baseball.
A common complaint you might hear (or have even said) about baseball is that it’s “slow and boring.” Although I agree baseball can be slow, baseball is not boring. Most just aren’t willing to endure the former to experience the inverse of the latter.
That is to say…have you ever attended a playoff baseball game? You know there is an excitement that extends beyond most live events you could attend in person. Why? Because if you’re willing to sit…and wait…and be patient…something magical will happen.
But that’s if your team makes it to the playoffs. Major League Baseball plays a 162-game schedule from March to September, and that’s a long season! Yet all the more reason to pick your team and follow along as they journey through back-to-back-to-back hot and rainy days in front of fans waiting for something magical to happen.
So what’s the point in soaking in game 60 of a 162-game season? Because on any given April, June, or August evening at a baseball field…someone unsuspecting has the opportunity to play hero. In basketball, you know LeBron is getting the ball for the final shot. In football, Mahomes is going to take over in the fourth quarter. But with baseball, nobody can control if the team’s 8th-best hitter just so happens to be up to bat with the game on the line. In fact, I believe this is the same reason soccer is the world’s most popular sport: humans love it when the unsuspecting hero prevails over the superstar. This idea is bound in a wonderful quote from Michael Lewis’s Moneyball, which was turned into a brilliant movie starring Brad Pitt.
“The pleasure of rooting for Goliath is that you can expect to win. The pleasure of rooting for David is that, while you don’t know what to expect, you stand at least a chance of being inspired.”
― Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Why do I believe in this David and Goliath anecdote for a culture of screen-bent socialites?
Because when you attend/watch a baseball or softball game (little league, college, minor league, major league) you sit shoulder-to-shoulder with someone, watch a game, partake in conversation, eat good food (or at least something indulgent), and experience community away from a screen — all while enjoying those David and Goliath moments on a random trip to the ballpark.
Of course, technology can aid in the process — taking a selfie in your seats, filming your favorite player, watching a replay on the jumbotron, or even listening to the radio.
But for a couple of hours on spring/summer/early fall nights, we have the power to let technology fade to the background in favor of a beautiful tradition together—a tradition that has maintained the human elements of the game for so long: umpires calling balls and strikes, coaches visiting the mound, and catchers giving out signs. All of which provide moments of human error and success…both can be beautiful.
Live sports are one of this country’s deep traditions that technology will never quite catch up to. (Heaven help us when robots trot out to throw a touchdown or dunk a basketball). Sports also have the power to do something not all traditions can: unite.
To Combat Division
An unfortunate thing about the modern-day political landscape (among many, many other items) is its entertainment value.
The reason that’s unfortunate? Politics shouldn’t serve as entertainment—politics should serve to progress a unified people within society.
I know, I know… “unification” isn’t one of the first words you think of when considering America’s current cultural outlook. But when 30,000 to 40,000 baseball fans (or 10,000-15,000 for my sad Kansas City Royals) sit down in a *room* together, there is true unity, joy, and entertainment surrounding a pure and beautiful game.
Which brings me to a key point in this Twosday post: baseball allows us to focus on the local when America is frightened by the national.
In other words, any hope for our country must start on a local level, and slowly work its way to a national level. When we reverse that order, America seems bleak.
Think about the National Football League. It’s without a doubt America’s most popular sport because it’s fast, hard-hitting, and allows for plenty of (more or less “expected”) exciting moments.
Now, think about Major League Baseball. Baseball might be known as slow and lacking action, but differentiates from football in one key aspect: the unexpected moments.
Unexpected moments, of which, create major memories.
It’s the unexpected that binds local communities together. It’s the unexpected that literally turned Kansas City “royal blue” for two years from 2014 to 2015. Ask anyone from Kansas City and they’ll tell you…those two years were more exciting than anything the Chiefs have done over the past few years…and that’s saying a lot because the Chiefs are in #dynasty mode.
Is there a major or minor league baseball team where you live? If there is, then consider yourself blessed.
Although baseball is noted as “America’s pastime” I would combat that statement with something better: baseball is America’s local pastime.
Think about the sandlot. The playground. The family outing to a local ballpark. As Humphrey Bogart once said: “A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz.”
When a small community witnesses the unexpected together, it is an emotionally binding and unifying experience.
The latter of which our country could do well to prioritize in 2024 and beyond.
✌️
— Will
P.S. If you know of someone who needs to write their book, shoot me an email at will@writemybooks.com as we’d love to help them bring it to life!
P.P.S. It’s Luke again — with my three favorite articles from the past week. They cover a plan to correct phone-based childhood, scientific mysteries we still can’t solve, and being a highly sensitive parent.
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