Cole’s Corner is a regular sports column by senior Sports Editor Tanner Cole. 

Well folks, baseball is back, and yes, your father who is the only one in the house who cares to talk about it. You listen to him argue how the Phils have a chance to take the division and even maybe go to the World Series. 

But you know as well as him the Fightin’ Phils are nowhere near ready to compete for the World Series.

So now you get to watch a sport that people say is the most physically-demanding yet requires the least amount of effort to play; a sport where most fans find it so captivating, they leave before the game is over. 

Unfortunately, with how our generation has grown up, we want sports to be fast-paced and exhilarating, and due to baseball’s overwhelming boringness, the sport is dying (hence, your father’s last ditch effort to get anyone in your house to care). We want to see Lebron James dunking over someone in the NBA finals, not Bryce Harper striking out. We usually prefer Fletcher Cox laying someone out over Aaron Nola striking someone out. Even something good in baseball, like a line drive into left center for a single, barely interests people.

Half-assed fans like me can follow the Phillies the way I do: checking their record every three days or so, learning the names of probably five players in the starting nine. I consider myself a proud sort of-fan of the Phillies, and I am someone who is interested in pretty much all sports. 

Not to base everything around myself, but I can only imagine that there are a handful of people who watch just about every baseball game the Phillies play. I think the mentality might be, “it is useless to watch baseball if I can go on TikTok and watch this funny video,” or better yet, watch the highlights from the baseball games on Instagram. Some could be an avid Renaissance man (or woman) of all sports, but baseball, as boring as it is, has become roadkill in the lives of Generation Z, who would rather cruise through social media than dedicate time to sports.

I am getting off topic. Anyway, baseball.

I do hope the Phillies do well, and the good news is that I am struggling to hate on them for specific reasons. I know little about them, which gives me less to critique. I can complain to the few who read these articles about how the style of play in Ben Simmons’ and Joel Embiid’s games do not compliment each other, but all I can say for the Phillies is how a pitcher threw, or a bad call the umpire made. I am determined to watch more games this season though. As boring as it is, it is relaxing.

Something great that is happening this year: the Yankees sort of suck. I will not boast about how bad a team is if my team is worse, but relative to how good they should be, the Yankees are struggling a little. I love nothing more than seeing their cocky attitudes fight for their team, no matter how bad they may be. Coincidentally, ESPN told 100 Yankees fans that their team is not good this year, and all 100 Yankees fans responded with, “But we have 27 rings.”  Yankees fans are caught up in what they have done, and not what they are now.

Looking ahead, the MLB season will hopefully not have cardboard fans fill the seats of stadiums. So far, seats have been filled, but crowds are divided up, making the stadium look empty (but, people make more noise than cardboard cutouts, so that’s a plus). Home games are actual home games where fans can heckle an opposing team and cheer on their own team.

Sitting down on a hot day with a hot dog and soda in hand and watching a ball game: it’s something maybe your father would enjoy, but it is worth a try to enjoy. 

It is more than likely better than sitting in your house.