How to Get Your Baseball Fix

Whenever baseball play is paused, some fans use the extra time to read up on the news. Others will use the free time to focus on any other hobbies or hang out with friends. Yet, for a certain type of die-hard fan, baseball can never stop.

It courses through our veins and dominates our days, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, and even then, we are dreaming of foul balls and home runs. So, worry not, because here are our top tips on what to watch, read and play to get that much-needed baseball fix.

Watch Burns’ Brilliant “Baseball”

Baseball is intertwined in the fabric of American society. It’s a sport that has been entertaining the masses for nearly two hundred years now, and it has a rich history that is almost as layered as the country that created it. But how much do you really know about the great game? If you feel you know the basics but would like to find out everything there is to know about baseball, then there’s a documentary series you should watch. Step forward Ken Burns and his exceptional tv series, Baseball.

Burns is one of the most acclaimed documentarians on planet Earth and is famous for his mesmerizing and compelling in-depth takes on subjects as varied as jazz, the prohibition, and the Vietnam War. Burns is such a prolific and influential filmmaker that he has been parodied on The Simpsons on three separate occasions. Now that is fame.

So, when Burns decided to make a series on baseball, viewers were excited for their beloved game to be hopefully shown the same immense complexity that Burns is known for. And when the series was first shown on PBS in 1994, critics and audience were both blown away by the mammoth achievement that the series was, with the documentary program winning the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series.

The documentary has nine episodes, and it’s just under 19 hours long, so it is a real commitment but one that is incredibly rewarding. The lengthy runtime allows Burns to tell the story of baseball from its humble, small-time beginnings to the mega, billion-dollar standing it has today.

Play These Great Games

Watching baseball on the screen is one thing, but sometimes it’s more fun to have ultimate control over the game. If you feel like getting involved in the action, then bigfish casino offers a couple of different baseball games that will scratch that itch. Big Hit Baseball is a fun and quick-to-play option, taking the form of a slot machine game. It’s a great way to recreate the excitement of the last innings of a too close to call game.

Another game to check out is MLB The Show 2020, which came out in January to rave reviews. The game by Sony San Diego is such a realistic sim of baseball that you can basically smell the greasepaint and hot dogs sizzling through the screen. With significant gameplay refinements to better upon 2019’s offering, the game is a great way to simulate how the Marlins might fare when the season gets underway.

Read Bouton’s Barmy Book

How about reading a great book that’s all about baseball? Thankfully, there have been more than enough quality books written on that very subject throughout the years.

One of our favorites is Ball Four, by the pitcher Jim Bouton. The book was released by the player in 1970 and brought considerable attention to Bouton, who, until then, was only known as a mediocre pitcher on his way out of the major leagues. The bestselling book is Bouton’s diary of the 1969 season he spent playing with the Seattle Pirates and the Houston Astros.

The book might seem a little tame by today’s bloated and excessive standards, but when it was released, it rocked the world of baseball to its very core. Players and fans were shocked at Bouton’s willingness to spill inside secrets of controversial behavior that he and his teammates got up to while they toured America. It made Bouton an outcast from the inner circle of baseball, but it is a fascinating look at just what players got up to on the road. So pick up a copy and enjoy the shenanigans in celebration of the man, who sadly passed away last year.