My Top 5 Favorite Things About Baseball Being Back

5. There's always something on TV - The Reds have upped their number of games broadcast on FSN Ohio to something in the 140s, even showing a select few in HD. That means 5-6 days a week, I can put aside my MTV reality shows and watch the Reds. Mmmm. Plus, you've got your Sunday, Monday and Wednesday night games on ESPN and the occasional Braves game on TBS. Do I really care to watch the Nationals playing in Atlanta? Any sane person would surely say "no," but the truth is, I can spend a whole inning wondering about alternate spellings of Andruw. It's constant entertainment.

4. A blessed break from basketball - Not that I don't love college basketball, I do. But, after I give up hope on my teams in the tournament, I generally contemplate relocating to Florida or slipping into an alcohol induced coma until opening day. Finally on that early April day, the floodgates open and we're awash in baseball. It's like an enema. Now, I can even tolerate some NBA when I switch over between innings.

3. Joe Morgan - I know he's collectively loathed by a whole sect of baseball fans, but I really can't understand why. Sure, he wears a goofy grin and occasionally stumbles over his words, but I really do think he understands the game. And he at least attempts to add baseball analysis as opposed to your Tim McCarvers of the world. Plus, it's nice to have such an obvious Reds' homer in the national media. For some reason, he always seems exceedingly jolly. By that, I mean he's in the same mood I would be if I got paid to watch baseball every day. Can't hate a guy for that.

2. Fantasy drafts - I love fantasy baseball. But, for some reason, I'm way better at fantasy football, which I can't explain. Every year, I think I've got a draft "system" worked out and nobody will be able to crack my code. I do a few practice drafts and jot down notes. I've got a list of sleepers and "stay away" guys. We're talking about a month-long system here. My added motivation lately has been my complete lack of any ability to prevent Trout from winning. He's won at least four years running now. It's pathetic. Of course, as soon as the draft starts, I'm a complete mess and everything falls apart. It's really a delicate house of cards. This year actually went okay, and I'm ahead of Trout in the standings so far. However, what this really means is I'm so insecure about it that I spend multiple hours every day doing research. I might win this league, but I'll probably get fired in the process.

1. Bemoaning the fates of our respective teams - It's amazing how often I can say the following things (more or less):

"Man, the Reds fucking blew another one"

"Seriously, how hard is it to find a reliever who's as good at pitching as he is at spitting sunflower seeds?

"Why is that guy smiling? Don't smile, asshole, you're still losing."

"Well, at least we're better than the Cubs."

Somehow, it really doesn't get old. I can call Trout on any given night when either of our teams are losing and it's the same thing. I think it's therapeutic to bitch about something besides my real life. And, like my life, it seems to be something different every day.

Man, I love baseball.