For the 100th episode our podcast, we listed off 100 reasons why baseball is the best. Yesterday, I gave reasons 1-50. Today, 51-100.
51. Vin Scully
52. Pat Hughes
53. Diversity of players
54. Abundance of opportunities to succeed, even after lackluster high school or college careers
55. Baseball movies
56. Strong regional fan bases. It's hard to be a bandwagon fan from a distance.
57. Baseball hats, the best sports accessory.
58. Catching a ball at a game.
59. The first pitch
60. Playing catch
61. Fridays at Wrigley
62. Mid-market teams have a chance.
63. Organic international growth
64. Road trips to see your team play in a new city.
65. Barry Bonds' 2004 season. At 39, he hit 45 HR with a .609 OBP and .812 SLG to win his fourth straight MVP.
66. 1998 home run race
67. OBP
68. WAR
69. 2004 ALCS
70. Throwback uniforms
71. No hard salary cap; the market sets a player's value.
72. Spring Training
73. Cast of characters in the game
74. Baseball after 9/11
75. Game 7 of the 2016 World Series
76. Final day of the 2011 regular season
77. Your team being awful is easier to swallow than other sports. Bad baseball is still watchable.
78. All games take place in the same year, making it easy to reference a specific season.
79. Sounds of the game. Crack of the bat, ball hitting glove, etc.
80. Fantasy baseball
81. MLB At Bat app
82. Cooperstown, NY
83. Yankees' dominance. 27 titles since 1903; Cardinals 2nd with 11.
84. 90s Braves pitching staff
85. Managers have to wear the same uniform as players.
86. Your glove. Most personal piece of sports equipment.
87. Going to the ballpark accentuates your enjoyment of the city it's in.
88. Trade Deadline
89. Baseball books
90. Baseball-Reference.com
91. Perfect Game
92. 4-HR game
93. Baseball-related Wikipedia pages
94. Honest postgame comments from players and coaches.
95. Baseball writing
96. The yips
97. Opening Day
98. Baseball on TV
99. Hawk Harrelson-Brian Kenny debate
100. Bryan Cranston's 2014 TBS playoffs promo
