Enjoying baseball

Question
Hi Rick
I moved to America (Canada) from the UK  as a young man and the only sport I knew was soccer.
During my leisure hours I like to watch sports on TV.
I am gaining a good understanding of football, CFL and NFL, basketball, and even hockey,so now that we are well into baseball season I want to know how to watch and enjoy the game.
I know the basics, but honestly, it does seem fairly boring from a spectator point of view compared to other sports.
If you could give me a bit of coaching as to how to enjoy it more as a TV spectator it would be appreciated!
BTW,you may be interested to know that many Canadians think that baseball was invented in Canada. They also claim football, basketball, and hockey of course.
Cheers, hope you are enjoying the summer!

Answer
Gordon,

I always like hearing from (potentially) new baseball fans!  By the way, the Canadians are right about hockey and basketball - both those sports were invented in Canada.  Football and baseball though?  Nope.

I can't give you a quick summary about enjoying baseball on TV - frankly, you might just not like the sport.  Although, if you watch cricket at all, you should find that baseball moves at light speed compared to cricket.  I'm not running that sport down at all.  I like it very much, but especially the new limited over matches where watching a match can happen in a reasonable amount of time.

I do have some books to recommend for you.  Check out your local library - these are fairly popular and they shouldn't be too hard to find.  The first two are more about learning the game, the last is for more historical info.

"Baseball for Dummies" - Joe Morgan (good introduction to the rules, the strategies, etc.
"The Baseball Fan's Companion" Nick Bakalar (discusses strategies, why players do what they do, statistics - very good for understanding the game)
"The Baseball Historical Abstract"  Bill James (covers the history of the game in an enjoyable understandable way)

Finally, you need to pick a team to root for.  That always improves excitement in the game.  I suggest the St. Louis Cardinals.  They have the best player in baseball (Albert Pujols), two of the top pitchers (Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright), and a long rich history (most World Championships of any National League team).

Hope this helps!  Ask me more questions anytime.

Brian