Baseball for an Outsider

I will say that baseball in America is very important. Almost every major city has a team and people adore their teams. I was doing some research on baseball in Baltimore and I realized that without baseball in Baltimore this city could have been completely different. There were many job opportunities in this city, but people also came here because of rich baseball traditions. They desired to watch baseball on their day off and have a team that represented their city. Before the new Camden Yards, Baltimoreans enjoyed baseball at the Memorial stadium. The Camden Yards is one of the most beautiful baseball parks in the nation today and many Americans associate Baltimore with Camden Yards. This makes me proud and I am an “outsider”. I like this sport, but the statistical obsession around it makes me like it less and I could never understand it as well as a native.



(old Memorial Stadium)

I love this country and I would like to learn how to love this sport. I do not think it would be possible for me. I consider myself a Baltimorean and I go to the Orioles games, but I do not care for all the numbers in the game. I think the game is one of the greatest American inventions, but the statistical and capitalistic obsessions ruin it for me. I really do not care about player’s individual achievements in the game. I care whether they win or lose. I want to see my team win. Many Americans agree with me, but they watch the game differently. They follow the players and their numbers. Americans do care for their team, but they follow every player on other teams to see who got better stats. It is different for me I am not from here. Statistics are just numbers and winning should be everything.