Just around the corner . . .

Spring training has arrived and with it the promise of a new baseball season. The last few years have not been kind to my beloved Seattle Mariners. Since their 116-win 2001 season they haven't had a winning season and the glory days of ex-Manager Sweet Lou Piniella are a distant memory . In my own estimation the moves the club have made this offseason haven't dramatically improved the team, but that's beside the point. I'm content right now to look forward to the prospect of a 75 degree Sunday afternoon in July with the sun beaming down in the blue sky above and the spacious pastures of Safeco Field's green outfield grass below. There, my girlfriend and I can enjoy some cold beer and peanuts and debate the questionable in-game decision making of manager Mike Hargrove (actually, the debate will probably be comprised of my own frustrated rhetorical questions and Olivia graciously humoring me by listening to my overly detailed descriptions of baseball strategy and what Hargrove natrually should have done).

In many ways I suppose that is my favorite part of baseball (probably not Olivia's though). Sure, the amenities are nice; baseball wouldn't be the same without sounds like the sharp crack of the bat and the pop of the thrown ball into a leather mitt. Or the thrill of rooting for a winning team and watching the entertaining spectacle of grown men trying to hit a small round ball thrown at 95 miles an hour with a round, wooden stick.

All of these are indispensible to my enjoyment of the game. However, what makes baseball most satisfying to me is what doesn't happen during the game combined with the anticipation of what possibly could happen. It is in these tense moments that baseball becomes more than entertainment, it becomes an event in which those who I'm watching the game with -- whether they be loved ones or strangers -- become as important as the game itself. And these sort of moments are plentiful in the game of baseball. It is a game of inaction rather than action; a time to ponder and dialouge rather than be force fed the lastest helping of entertainment value for your dollar.

Don't get me wrong, some games just drag on and on with pitching change after pitching change. If you find the game itself boring, that's because it probably is at times. I for one though, am still looking forward to the spring.