As the skipper in Bull Durham says, “This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.” Players all blend together until you know their stories. It’s the stories that make baseball come alive.

With basketball, the pace is so fast there’s no time to tell the stories, So the media takes it up, complete with the drama that creates ratings in a 24-hour news world.

A football game has too many players to relate to because a football game is war. On the battlefield, you don’t have individual soldiers. You have regiments, companies, and battalions working together seamlessly.

But baseball’s battles are more like duels. One batter faces off against one pitcher. Nobody else gets involved until the pitch is hit or missed. Each individual effort leads to the team’s victory or defeat. If you don’t know anything about those individuals, yeah, it drags.

The pace of the game makes room for the stories. No other sport has that in the same way as baseball, as long as you have a good storyteller.

Vin Scully: The Master Storyteller

That’s what Vin Scully did so well. Every evening like Shaharazade, he’d embrace those lulls and use them to captivate the listener. For 67 years, for over two hours a night, he turned faceless players into real human beings for millions of listeners and viewers.

Even though players came and went, he would weave them into the endless tradition of the team and the entire game of baseball. And not just Dodger stories. Whatever team was on the field, Vin would happily tell those men’s tales too. Vin didn’t just make Dodger fans. He created lovers of the game of baseball.

On July 24, 1983, the Kansas City Royals' George Brett hit a ninth-inning home run against the New York Yankees that would become the most controversial homer in baseball history. Here is an oral history of the Pine Tar Game.

"The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from the end, may be covered or treated with any material (including pine tar) to improve the grip. Any such material, including pine tar, which extends past the 18-inch limitation, in the umpire's judgment, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game. No such material shall improve the reaction or distance factor of the bat." — Rule 1.10 (b), Official Rules of Baseball, 1983

SAO PAULO (AP) — Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82. //

Throughout the years, the legend of Pelé continued to grow – so much so, that in the late 1960s, the two factions in the Nigerian Civil War reportedly agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pele play in an exhibition game in Lagos.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan summarized Pelé’s stardom when the soccer star visited him at the White House and he said: “My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America. But you don’t need to introduce yourself, because everyone knows who Pelé is.” //

EzraTank
7 hours ago
I loved the movie Victory with him, Stallone, and Michael Caine.

Lionel Messi finally achieved his World Cup dream as Argentina won their third crown on penalties in one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history.

Argentina won the shootout 4-2 after a spectacular game which developed into the much-anticipated confrontation between the 35-year-old maestro Messi and his France opposite number Kylian Mbappe.

France's own superstar scored a hat-trick - the first in a Fifa World Cup final since 1966 - but still ended up on the losing side at Lusail Stadium.

Messi looked to be securing the one major honour missing from his glittering collection in comfort as Argentina cruised into a two-goal lead.

This all changed when an explosive intervention from Mbappe, who scored two goals inside two minutes late on, turned this frantic, magnificent match for the ages on its head.

Messi had given Argentina the lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute following Ousmane Dembele's foul on Angel di Maria. It made him the first player in World Cup history to score in the group stage, last 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final of a single tournament.