Ten Reasons to Tune into Baseball This Season

Everyone Hates the Yankees - Whether you live in Boston or in Los Angeles, every baseball fan outside of New York hates the Yankees. Steinbrenner's pinstriped crew has historically been boosted by an open checkbook but has suffered through a recent championship drought. No other professional sport has a clear Goliath team that fans all across the country can root against.

Cursed Cubs? - Just outs away from the World Series a few seasons ago, the Cubbies have been on a downward spiral ever since Steve Bartman became a household name. Jim Hendry has gone out and made some big moves, however, to change his teams' fortunes. Adding the dynamic Alfonso Soriano and fiery manager Lou Piniella were terrific moves. Remember it only took the Cardinals eighty-three regular season wins to win a title last year. There is no reason why these cursed-Cubs can't do the same in a weak National League.

Dice-K's Seven Pitch Arsenal - Not since Hideo Nomo has one Japanese baseball player had so much hype behind him; and Nomo didn't have to play in Boston. According to Sports Illustrated Daisuke Matsuzaka has seven different pitches he can roll out to opposing hitters. Whether or not this report of an effective inflated arsenal, which includes the mysterious gyro-ball, is true remains to be seen. Either way baseball fans should be eager to see just how much talent one-hundred and two million dollars can buy.

Roger Clemens: Will He Stay or Go? - Not only has Clemens remained effective into his mid-40s, he absolutely dominated the National League in his stint with the Houston Astros. It made perfect sense for Roger to continue to play baseball with a team located in his home-state of Texas. But will he continue to play now that he likely has to change locations back to either Boston or New York? Fans of the game should be happy to have a chance to see a true legend playing out the final years of a terrific career.

NL MVP Race - There is something about the home run ball that draws fans to the old ball game. Whether it be the immense power shown by home-run hitters or the excitement of one swing of the bat having the chance of changing the game, the instant one-run shots are far from dead. Even pitchers know that chicks, and baseball fans, ultimately dig the long ball. Two of the best home-run hitters in the league today reside in the National League; Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard. Pujols won the NL MVP despite losing the RBI and HR battles to the aforementioned Howard. This seasons' race figures to be just as exciting as last years'.

Barry Bonds Quest For #1 - Despite the entire nation rallying against him, Barry Bonds is determined to break the Hank Aaron's seemingly unreachable statistic of 755. Whether you hate him, like me, or love him, it is always intriguing when a modern-day player is close to breaking a number that has withstood decades of talented ball players. Steroids aside, Bonds' quest for twenty-two more home runs is a good reason to tune into Giants games all season long.

Walk-Off Wins - The score is three to two. The home team has the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth with their best hitter approaching the plate and two outs. And the away team rolls out steady reliever...Todd Jones? Uh oh! With one-hundred and sixty-two games and thirty clubs, drama in late innings will occur all the time. Nothing is more fun then seeing a game come down to the final at-bat. No other sport offers late game heroics as often as baseball does.

Summer Is Here! - With all respect to basketball and football, the two sports represent a downward shift in the climate for most areas in the United States. The baseball season, however, brings about seventy and eighty degree weather and green grass. No other professional sport in the major-four leagues can claim the same. Baseball represents all those fond memories of careless childhood summers we all had. It is a calmer and easier game to watch while relaxing.

Everyone Is Playing For October - Even with a playoff picture that only has enough room for eight teams, baseball features more parity than almost any other professional sport out there. Out of thirty teams, it is fair to assume that twenty-four to twenty-six have a realistic shot at winning their division and/or making the postseason. This means that almost every fan in almost every part of the country has something to root for.

Because We Love THIS Game - Go to an afternoon baseball game featuring two top-notch ball clubs and the atmosphere is electric. Thousands of fans gather on a weekday to root for their hometown team. And for three or four hours, all these fans can forget about their work life or schoolwork or any other responsibility they have. Despite what media pundits say, America still very much loves baseball and it is still very much the national pastime.

Feel free to add your own reasons in the comment section!