« 102 reasons to love baseball »

Reading so much negativity toward baseball makes me sick. Do these people seriously understand baseball?

Fellow Blogcritic author Sal Marinello opts to cover the negative side of the game. He is skilled at writing destructively about the game, ripping to shreds Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, the All-Star Game, Sammy Sosa and most recently Rafael Palmeiro. And often he chooses to make Jose Canseco's book "Juiced" as his Amazon.com link.

The baseball writers I respect do not write so venomously towards the game the cover. They witness it. They interview it. And they, too, can be critical of it. But never do they let go of the undying spirit of the game.

Anyone who cares about the sport wouldn't just talk about black eyes in the game like Kenny Rogers' cameraman incident or Barry Bonds' grand jury testimony. They would obviously mention them and how their mistakes don't reflect the sport's nature, but would turn around and talk about how their favorite team needs bullpen help.

There are so many reasons to love the game that rarely make headlines. But they're always there when you need them the most.

Here are 102 such reasons to love baseball. On any day of the week, each item trumps anything bad about the sport. The list isn't ranked, nor is it comprehensive. But I could go to 1,000 if given enough time, so just be glad I stopped here.

1. The double switch
2. Chone Figgins playing second, third or center
3. Rick Ankiel trying to come back as an outfielder
4. The suicide squeeze
5. Pudge Rodriguez's snap throw to first base
6. Craig Counsell's batting stance
7. Stealing signals
8. Pitching inside
9. An ump's own way of calling balls and strikes
10. Still calling U.S. Cellular Field "Comiskey Park"
11. Drunks trying to start the wave in the 8th inning
12. Diving catches
13. Hitting a home run out of SBC Park and into the bay
14. Jon Miller's play-by-play
    
15. Third base coaches
16. Unassisted triple plays
17. Players to be named later
18. The train tracks outside Safeco Field
19. Nolan Ryan putting Robin Ventura in a headlock
20. The drum that beats while the Indians are at bat
21. Hideo Nomo's statuesque windup
22. The two kids running out to congratulate Hank breaking Babe's record
23. Joe Carter's World Series winning home run
24. Overpriced ballpark franks
25. Nomar Garciaparra's obsessive-compulsive ritual at bat
26. The Dodgers' home blue jerseys
27. The fake-throw-to-third-then-to-first
28. Derek Jeter throwing to first in the air against his body
29. Home plate collisions
30. Lou Piniella arguing with umpires
31. The pool at Bank One Ballpark
32. "Baseball Tonight"
33. Moneyball
34. George Brett flipping out after being ejected for pine tar
35. Ichiro's infield singles
36. Not updating your fantasy baseball team in weeks ... and still winning
    
37. The Tiger's old English 'D'
38. Adjusted OPS ratings
39. Pitchers rounding the bases in warmup jackets
40. Mariano Rivera's cutter
41. Hitting a ball the other way ... on an infield shift
42. Stealing third
43. Personalized at-bat music
44. Knowing an obscure stat, like the first person to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning (answer below)
    
45. Carlton Fisk hand-signaling his home run off the pole
46. Pitchers hitting home runs
47. Hitting the catwalk in Tropicana Field
    
48. Jack Buck's post-9/11 speech
49. Legging out a triple
50. Outfield assists
51. Randy Johnson throwing above John Kruk in the All Star game
52. Fans heckling ballboys for foul balls
53. Watching the ground crew roll out the tarp
    
54. Fielding a weak grounder bare-handed
55. Lenny Harris making a career out of pinch-hitting
    
56. Catching a flyball temporarily lost in the sun
57. Gary Sheffield's bat waggle
58. Players who never wash their batting helmets
59. The 12-to-6 curveball
60. Wrigley Field's ivy
61. Getting a hit after an intentional walk
62. Hall of Fame debates that never end
63. Watching "This Week in Baseball" during a rain delay
64. Sean Casey's personality
    
65. Trades that, looking back, were highway robbery (Luis Gonzalez for Karim Garcia)
66. Steinbrenner's "team meetings"
67. Andruw Jones gracefully running down a fly ball
68. Curtain calls
69. Three players converging on a pop-up, nobody catching it
70. Jeff Bagwell's bat windup
    
71. Beer vendors
72. The home crowd always booing a close call against their team
73. Getting offense from your 9-hitter (AL)
    
74. A batter fooled by a changeup
75. Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer to the ground
76. Fenway Park's manual scoreboard
77. Small market teams beating large market teams
78. Scoring all the way from first base
79. A pitcher getting out of a bases-loaded inning unharmed
80. Johnny Damon's hair
81. Batting around in an inning
82. The umpire dusting off home plate
83. Kirk Gibson's home run trot in the 1988 World Series
84. Ernie Harwell's "Long Gone!" home run call
85. Dugout clearing brawls
86. Tony Gwynn's voice
87. The Metrodome's right field baggie wall
88. Sliding underneath the tag
89. Leo Mazzone rocking back and forth
90. Keeping the box score by hand
91. Taking your hot fiancee to a game
    
92. Wild card chases
93. Explaining to someone the infield fly rule
94. The knuckleball
95. Keeping track of Ripken's Ironman record on the warehouse
96. 5-4-3 double plays
97. "Free baseball" (extra innings)
98. Knowing the answer to the AFLAC Trivia Question right away
99. Mr. Met
100. Looking at who the Expos used to have
101. 480 ft. power alleys
102. The hold stat

(The answer to No. 43 is Carlos Baerga.)

The game brings us many moments of joy, angst and humor. Every day, players overcome adversity, numbers are crunched and a city comes together to unite and cheer for a common goal.

What do you love about the game?