For people who love the game, baseball speaks to them in deeply personal ways. The simple game of stick and ball is now played with a complex set of rules—meaning an infinite amount of possibilities can occur, and no two games are ever alike.
• Share the love. When people bring up basketball or football, they talk about the events seen on the field—the touchdown, the three-point shot. But when they discuss baseball, the conversation often begins with a memory, such as "I remember the first game my dad took me to...." Baseball is about time and family. To connect to the emotions tied up in the sport, start watching and talking about it with others.
• Live by the numbers. Baseball fans are fascinated with statistics because that's the language of the game—batting averages, home runs, outs, and innings. But they're also fascinated with the personalities of the players, because that's how they interpret the statistics. Watching a hitter with a .300 batting average saunter up to the plate is an amazing thing. So learn what you can by reading the papers or listening to commentary on television.
• Respect its characters. Baseball is different from any other major-league sport: For example, there is no clock, and the defense has the ball. Not only that, but it doesn't matter where the ball is—it's the human being who scores the points. Finally, you can win or lose a World Series by a catch made in—or out—of bounds. All these aspects add dimension, intrigue, and complexity to the game.
• Be a spectator. When it's baseball season, get tickets as often as possible. There's this moment that happens in every game: You've entered through the turnstile, passed the smelly bathrooms, gone through the dark underbelly of the stadium, and then you walk into the light and see this green that is greener than it could possibly be. You remember your dad taking you here. Everywhere you look, baseball connects us to this past that is deeply sentimental, but also realistic and a little gritty.
• Let it sink in. Remember, you don't have to know all the intricacies of the game to appreciate it. The person who gets into the pageantries of baseball, the person who pays loose attention to the action on the field, and the person who keeps score like a hawk can all enjoy themselves equally.