View from the Couch

BY BILL LEEMAN

I recently read where the Commissioner of baseball, that would be Mr. Bud Selig, is concerned about the pace of the game.   

Well,                           

how...                            

do...                        

you...                              

like...

that...                   

...?

Say, Bud, are you sure you got your wake-up call this morning?

The pace of the game is exactly what the game is all about.   

Shouldn't you be talking about the beauty of the game?  Because the pace of the game equals the beauty of the game.

One of the greatest assets of baseball is it's pace.   Going to a baseball game is like going on vacation.   You want to soak it up for as long as you can.  

When you go to the ballpark, it's a chance to sit and relax, talk about the game, talk about the players, and talk about your in-laws.   

It's chance to analyze and dissect.   A chance to scrutinize, and ponder.  It's a chance to pontificate and expound.   Not to mention the fact that it's a chance to see something new every day.

I don't know about you, but for me there is hardly anything better than after a day's work, or after my errands and chores are done, to sit down to watch baseball.   Goodbye world, hello ball game.   Why, it's better than drinking. 

Now, unless you are thinking about more ways to slow the game, then I say this:   Don't you dare mess with the pace of the game.  We've been doing it this way for a hundred years or so, and it's working just fine.

Of course there are games that drag.   Pitchers that are sleepwalking.   But for every one of those, there is a tense, dramatic, nail-biter.   Or a back and forth slug-fest.   It all balances out.

During all of these games, in between batters, in between innings, in between pitches, we always have time to ruminate, contemplate, and mouth off.  

And that, my friend, IS the pace of the game.

What a beautiful thing it is.