Perspective: Baseball is the only sport that justifies optimism on opening day
Baseball fans walk into Nationals Park in the District. By Adam Chandler Adam Chandler is a Brooklyn-based writer and the author of the forthcoming “Drive-Thru Dreams,” a book about the fast-food industry. March 27 at 2:23 PM American sports are in the clutch of a dynastic fever. Last month, the New England Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl since 2002. The Golden State Warriors have won three of the past four NBA titles, making them one of the four teams to capture 16 of the past 19 titles.
Nothing rouses the national spirit with more naive purity than the start of baseball. With each first pitch comes the end of a seasonal disorder. On Thursday, much of the country will jump back to life after months of hibernation. In cities, home teams will trot out their achy, aging former stars as good-luck talismans from the glorious and heroic past.
Baseball skeptics are justified in finding all of this strange and tedious. The odds are against a batter in every at-bat, which can make a hit seem like a minor miracle and a true hitter seem like a god. But this is also a hallmark of the game’s thrilling democratic character: Over the course of 162 games, even a star can have a slump and even an average player can put together a streak.
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