Pitching baseball as a welcome antidote to the hectic lives we lead: Go Mariners!

As reliable as tulips showing off the colors of spring, Major League Baseball players took the field sporting their team colors for the new season. To many who have moved on from baseball to a faster-paced sport, it’s a yawn and back to spring football at the university, the Final Four or even the upcoming NBA playoffs.

Once described as America’s pastoral sport, baseball is adjusting to a fan base living in frenetic times. When news and entertainment of any kind is delivered instantly, sped up and summed up in pithy fashion, sitting through nine innings of a baseball game ranks up there for some as watching paint dry.

With commercial breaks at the half-inning, starting pitchers often removed after five innings and umpires suspending play while they wait for New York to replay a close call on video, you have a formula for fans not filling up major league ballparks. In fact, a number of teams have downsized their stadiums, including the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent removal of 5,000 seats.

Baseball seems to understand the need to adorn a 19th century game with some 21st century updates, and this new season is no exception. New rules include limiting mound visits by managers and coaches from six to five. Commercial breaks during innings will be shortened by 20 seconds. And to deal with those late innings when pitchers are yanked and relievers slow down the game’s tempo, pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three batters beginning in 2020.

But time out! Before major league baseball goes too crazy with rule changes, it might be helpful to reflect on how baseball works as an antidote to how our digital world accelerates our pace of life. How fast-paced should baseball be at a time when more and more people are looking for that respite from the hectic lives we lead? Add mobile devices and social media to the equation and you may have a cry for relief that is not about help from the bullpen, but help from baseball, period, as it’s been played for 150 years.

Patience and deliberation seem poorly practiced virtues today when everything can be delivered to us at warp speed. What you want to know is only a click of the mouse away. No time for deliberation or thought on the user’s part, no chance to learn the answer from a parent, spouse or friend. A robot is there with the answer before a conversation or any thinking on the subject can even take place.

Wouldn’t it be nice just every now and then to escape it all and take a seat at the ballpark on a beautiful summer evening with family or friends? A time to celebrate a game reminiscent of a time when the days seemed longer, not governed by the digital flash of a new minute, but the second hand moving slowly and deliberately to the next minute?

Of course, to keep up with the times, MLB is dialed in to our digital world, orchestrating social media outbreaks throughout the game. But fans can choose to ignore all of that and simply enjoy a game that is distinguished as having the most difficult challenge in all of sports: hitting a 95 mph baseball coming at the batter from a pitcher’s mound a mere 60 feet, 6 inches away.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, T-Mobile Park in Seattle offers a great fan experience. It’s one of the finest parks in America, prepared for Seattle’s weather with its retractable roof to eliminate the rain delays, yet another slowdown to the game in many ballparks.

Or watch the Mariners on Root Sports, as this fan does when a trip to the ballpark isn’t in the cards. From Boise through the Tri-Cities to Bellingham, and down to Tacoma and Olympia, it’s always a treat to hear Dave Sims call the game and Mike Blowers provide the commentary. Dave is one of the most knowledgeable baseball guys in the business, not just about sports, but the history and culture of our land, and he knows where baseball fits into it all. As one of the few African Americans in the broadcast booth, he is proud of his heritage and willing to share the heroic feats of black ballplayers who paved the way for the baseball we take for granted today.

Mike Blowers played for the Mariners, Yankees, Dodgers and Oakland A’s, and even played a year in Japan. His commentary is a lesson on the intricacies of the game, especially those that are hidden from the casual fan, and he makes the strategy of the game that more understandable and enjoyable. Hard to find two better commentators in the game, and they seem genuine friends, just jawing about their favorite pastime.

When it comes to T-Mobile Park, don’t forget the food, some of the best in MLB. The garlic fries are legendary, and who goes to a ballpark without savoring the all-American hot dog? And for those more sophisticated stomachs, there are countless options.

What better way to celebrate America’s national pastime than a trip to the ballpark? And there is no better venue than the one in the Emerald City on Puget Sound, where Mariners belong.

This story was originally published April 6, 2019 at 2:29 AM.