Friends invited me to the Tuesday night baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the most enjoyable ball game that I have ever attended.
The company was very pleasing. Our conversation was cheerful and frequently informative. (I had to be tutored at one point on the regulations concerning the ground-rule double.) The weather was excellent: a warm day gave way to a mild evening. The game had drama, excitement, and suspense. The Rockies led for most of the game but the Brewers rallied in the top of the ninth to tie and send the game into extra innings. The Rockies won the game with a home run in the eleventh inning.
I was surprised that I found the baseball action so engrossing. My attention didn't waver during the entire eleven innings. By contrast, when I am watching baseball on television, I'm only good for about two innings before I get restless and wander off. I think what I especially enjoy about being in the stadium is that I can see how the players on the field move in concert and back each other up. For instance, to fully appreciate the coordination needed to execute a double play, you need a broad view of the field to see the runner heading toward second base as the shortstop, the second baseman, and the first baseman are shifting into position. But the television camera typically takes too narrow a shot. You don't see the double play taking shape. Instead, television fragments the teamwork into the consecutive actions of isolated players. (Television does similar damage with its news coverage of politics.)
