It's not football or even basketball...

I don't care how much the ratings of football and baseball climb, baseball is the game that truly lies in the heart of America.

A recent column on the Baseball Analysts speaks beautifully to this, reminding us of the simple joy of watching a baseball game without thinking of statistics and numbers and fantasy games, of the beautiful wonders of the most perfect of games. It's an amzingly well-written piece, and it does a great job of reminding us of the esence of the sport.

There have been other, differently poetic ways of relating this simplicity. George Carlin - in sound or print - has taken his swing, as has W.P. Kinsella via James Earl Jones's voice.

I'll probably get out to my first ball game in a couple of weeks - Astros at Reds April 30th - but the smell of fresh cut grass, the shine of brilliant green along the roadside, the chill of a spring morning fading into the warmth of the afternoon, and all of spring screams for us to turn toward the most beautiful of pasttimes.