Does NASCAR = Baseball?
|
11/04/2015 Jeremiah Thalheimer |
While watching my adopted hometown team (the Kansas City Royals) win the World Series this past week, I began to think about the sports of NASCAR and baseball. On the surface, these are two sports that seem to be vastly different while in reality they both have more in common than meets the eye.
Lets start with how both sports are viewed from an outsider’s perspective. Both baseball and NASCAR seem to be pretty dull and simple when looked at improperly. Baseball appears to be just hitting a ball and running around some bases while NASCAR appears to be nothing more than driving a car in circles. However, when you dig down deeper, you come to realize that both sports involve a multitude of strategies. Baseball involves a plethora of pitch sequences, defensive shifts, swings, bunts, and base running strategies in an elaborate chess game. NASCAR involves drivers choosing different lines, entries into corners, whether to go hard or save fuel, and crew chiefs deciding when to pit, how many tires to take, and whether to set the car up to be good over a long or short run.
Baseball and NASCAR are also insanely precise sports where seconds and inches make all the difference. In baseball, a few inches difference in the location of a pitch can be the difference between a strike or a home run and fielder’s time on his dive by a split second is the difference between an out and an extra base hit. In NASCAR, a driver’s timing of his entry into the corner is the difference between catching the car in front of him or losing control and slamming the wall while a slight misstep in the pits by a crew member is the difference between a great pit stop and losing a half-dozen positions.
Another similarity between both sports is that they are both elaborate chess games that play out over several hours. In baseball, a hitter who appears to be uselessly swinging and fouling off pitches is often trying to tire out the opposing pitcher by increasing his pitch count and getting into the opposing team’s bullpen early while a NASCAR driver who appears to be just “riding around” is often saving his equipment for the end. Also, this postseason’s late inning comebacks and rallies by the Kansas City Royals bring to mind NASCAR greats like David Pearson, Mark Martin, or even Kevin Harvick today - drivers who are known for their uncanny ability to find their way toward the lead at the end of the race.
Lastly, NASCAR and the Kansas City Royals both enjoy the friendliest fan bases in all of sports. Even though NASCAR fans are known for being rowdy, they also are often very friendly toward their fellow fans - especially if they meet a fan attending a race for the first time. When I attended my first Royals game at Kauffman Stadium during the World Series, two fans that I had just met both watched my bags for me as I went to the concession stand. The only other sporting event where I could imagine fans doing this for a total stranger is a NASCAR race.
Lets start with how both sports are viewed from an outsider’s perspective. Both baseball and NASCAR seem to be pretty dull and simple when looked at improperly. Baseball appears to be just hitting a ball and running around some bases while NASCAR appears to be nothing more than driving a car in circles. However, when you dig down deeper, you come to realize that both sports involve a multitude of strategies. Baseball involves a plethora of pitch sequences, defensive shifts, swings, bunts, and base running strategies in an elaborate chess game. NASCAR involves drivers choosing different lines, entries into corners, whether to go hard or save fuel, and crew chiefs deciding when to pit, how many tires to take, and whether to set the car up to be good over a long or short run.
Baseball and NASCAR are also insanely precise sports where seconds and inches make all the difference. In baseball, a few inches difference in the location of a pitch can be the difference between a strike or a home run and fielder’s time on his dive by a split second is the difference between an out and an extra base hit. In NASCAR, a driver’s timing of his entry into the corner is the difference between catching the car in front of him or losing control and slamming the wall while a slight misstep in the pits by a crew member is the difference between a great pit stop and losing a half-dozen positions.
Another similarity between both sports is that they are both elaborate chess games that play out over several hours. In baseball, a hitter who appears to be uselessly swinging and fouling off pitches is often trying to tire out the opposing pitcher by increasing his pitch count and getting into the opposing team’s bullpen early while a NASCAR driver who appears to be just “riding around” is often saving his equipment for the end. Also, this postseason’s late inning comebacks and rallies by the Kansas City Royals bring to mind NASCAR greats like David Pearson, Mark Martin, or even Kevin Harvick today - drivers who are known for their uncanny ability to find their way toward the lead at the end of the race.
Lastly, NASCAR and the Kansas City Royals both enjoy the friendliest fan bases in all of sports. Even though NASCAR fans are known for being rowdy, they also are often very friendly toward their fellow fans - especially if they meet a fan attending a race for the first time. When I attended my first Royals game at Kauffman Stadium during the World Series, two fans that I had just met both watched my bags for me as I went to the concession stand. The only other sporting event where I could imagine fans doing this for a total stranger is a NASCAR race.