Baseball begins another season

Baseball is a sport that has been a part of this country's history for a long time. As we are once again at war, baseball will try to act as a distraction to our soldiers overseas, just as it did during World War II. However, baseball also comes near the beginning of summer and, in my opinion, shows part of the downfall of our society.

There are many aspects of baseball that are creative and show the need for athleticism, but what about the other many aspects of the sport that show us no form of an athlete at all. I agree that hitting a baseball is probably the toughest thing to do in all of sports, minus maybe driving a golf ball straight over 200 yards... every time, but I will use two pitchers as an example: David Wells and Roger Clemens.

These two pitchers are the exact opposite of what anybody would think of when they think of the word "athlete." Both are fat, overweight, typical Americans. Wells has admitted that he has pitched while drunk, and even the day he threw a perfect game, another very difficult aspect of all sports, he said he was still half-drunk from the night before.

Clemens could play no other position in any sport other than maybe first base in the sport in which he plays, and that would be difficult for him due to having to reach for poorly thrown balls and hitting, with only four hits in 19 career at bats.

There are definitely athletic players in the game of baseball, and I do enjoy watching Red Sox games in the middle of the afternoon. I respect people like Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, and Pedro Martinez, because they work hard to stay athletic, in shape, and try to not to look like a Frank Thomas or a Mo Vaughn (both first basemen).

However, even Randy Johnson, somebody who is by no means overweight would not be a good pitcher without his height because of the torque he can get from his long arms. His athleticism is simply from luck, and then he worked very hard.

In other sports, other than maybe basketball, athletes need to work hard in order to be begin to be good and then they have to work hard in order to stay in shape and play their sport, rather than just being born with the height that Johnson was given.

Baseball is a sport that should be our national pastime when players like Sandy Koufax owned batters every time he stepped on the mound, and not a sport that lets people in the shape that Wells and Clemens are in to be the stars that they are.

We need more Joe DiMaggios and Ted Williamses, and less C.C. Sabathias (who weighs in at a light 270 pounds) and Curt Schillings.