Jason Ross: 'Thank You, Baseball'
Baseball had a great night last night.
Chicago Cubs fans around the world will never forget it. For that matter, Cleveland Indians fans all over will never forget it either.
I hope we all remember this game for years to come. The glory of baseball was in full display last night in Cleveland. Drama down to the last pitch of game 7 of the World Series, are you kidding me?
Here's what we had last night in Cleveland:
- 15 runs, 24 hits and even four errors to add to the imperfection of the sport
- Eight pitching changes in the 10-inning grind
- A leadoff home run by Dexter Fowler
- The Cubs built leads of 3-1 and 6-3, only to have the Indians tie it in the bottom of the 8th with three. Wow.
- Two stolen bases
- One pickoff
- One caught stealing
- Two runs scored on a passed ball
- Four total home runs
- A failed bunt attempt with two strikes
- Veterans responding in their final time on the diamond
- Kids rising to the occasion
- A stadium filled with fans from both teams all on the verge of heart attacks
- A rain delay
- Extra innings
- And last but not least, a game that lasted 4 hours and 28 minutes
Yes, the game was almost four and a half hours long and only 19 minutes of that was rain delay. Did anybody care? Nope.
Baseball doesn't have a clock. It's story weaves it's way through the night unfolding on each pitch. Would that game have been better if it was played in two hours and 40 minutes? I doubt it.
Baseball gives you natural drama. People can't milk a shot clock or play clock. No timeouts to draw up plays. There is time to second guess decisions, time to watch faces up close on the field and in the stands as they live these moments out in real time.
Agony and jubilation all right there in front of us. It was a Game 7 of the ages.
As football and basketball continue to rise among the sports world's popularity, last night was a night for the grand old game.
It was also a reminder that baseball can be a lot of fun when there is a lot on the line and two really good teams give it all they got.
Thank you Cubs, thank you Indians and thank you baseball. I will miss you but this should hold me off until April when we can do this all over again.
