The Game Of Attrition

It took long enough, but baseball's spring training has finally begun. There are plenty of reasons for interest, although having season tickets at my disposal is no longer one of them as it was a few years ago. Then, the baseball season signified a time when my evening plans were set six or seven out of every fourteen days. That's how often the LA Dodgers were in town and playing a game, although one or two games every homestand were during the day.

These days, I have neither season tickets nor the cable channel that many Dodgers games come in on, so I can watch only so many, but can get the rest on the radio. In recent years, my level of attention has been minimal, as few around me were paying attention. It's human interaction that I am most a fan of, these days, and most people I know aren't sports fans, let alone fans of baseball. That has changed lately.

A handful of people that I know now are into the game, some of whom may even be interested in fantasy baseball, which tells you that they are really hopeless cases. Through them I hope to rekindle my affection for the game, and through the game, I hope to better acquaint myself with them. It's that kind of circularity that makes it all very appealing. It's all about people, and watching sports is just one of many pleasant social lubricants.

We have a month of exhibition games down in Arizona and Florida, and also the World Baseball Classic, which pits nation against nation. It's an imperfect approximation of something like soccer's World Cup, but it's an enjoyable way of getting into the next six months of fun. I don't know whether I am apt to write much about baseball, but rest assured that by next November I will have watched a game or two among friends.