The Other Bat-and-Ball Game

Washington D.C, Baseball, and Cricket

As some of you may know, I relocated to the Washington D.C. metro area last September. After a rather unpredictable 2024, I have settled a bit into the new job and apartment, though I miss being close to my family in Texas. I also felt much closer to cricket there. Without a car, it’s far more difficult to have a net on a moment’s notice or drive to an unkept ground for weekend league games. Writing and plotting my next cricketing adventure is what keeps me calm at the crease now.

With less cricket occupying my spare time, I have been able to explore other interests such as reading, running, cooking, and playing American Football on weekends. In a way, I feel myself trying to compensate for not playing cricket regularly by keeping my body active through other means. Perhaps a part of me is still clinging to a boyhood dream, but I know better than to pursue the unattainable.¹

I have also allowed myself to become a tourist in this new city. I recently had the chance to go to my first Major League Baseball (MLB) game. It was the Washington Nationals hosting the Philadelphia Phillies (in my opinion, a team name almost as comical as MI New York).

I ensured I had the essential experience: beer, popcorn, and hot dogs for lunch. I even haggled with a street vendor selling Nationals merchandise before the game. We were seated in the nosebleeds but had an incredible view of the ground with the added backdrop of the National Monument. Doesn’t quite beat Dharamshala, but not bad.

Baseball has long drawn comparisons to cricket, but it was never a sport I ranked. While my Dad had played a little league season growing up, his gloves stayed stored away, collecting dust, on the top shelf of our activity closet. He never put me in it, and I was never curious about it.

Lately though, I’ve been paying more attention. Beer in hand, I squinted into the early spring sun, watching pitchers and batters settle into their stances, each with their quirks, like Steve Smith’s excessive pre-delivery routine. In the field, players split-stepped instinctively as the ball reached the bat, like a well-trained slip cordon waiting for that nick.

As I sat there, watching innings go by, I couldn't help but draw parallels. Baseball, like cricket, is a game of patience and precision, but there are far fewer runs to come by. While cricket is notorious for its long sessions and rare shifts in momentum, which has led to the rise of shorter formats to captivate casual viewers who are drawn to the thrill of sixes, a baseball game lasts under three hours, yet still might end with only a run or two. But, context here matters: a baseball team plays 162 games in its season, making it a marathon, not the sprint the Indian Premier League (IPL) is.

There are so many more nitty-gritty details one could compare and argue, which sport is more difficult, more elegant or just “better.” I’ve heard it all: in baseball, the distance is shorter, and the ball comes faster; in cricket, there’re no gloves, and the ball swings, spins, and bounces, causing unpredictable variation. Further, the ball plays a huge role in cricket as only one or two are used in a match, while a baseball game will typically go through a hundred balls.

But that’s not the point. I see the appeal of baseball, and the gentle lovers of it will also see the appeal of cricket. Baseball’s novel to me but still familiar. I respect it, and I am excited to catch some more games while I am here. But, I will always prefer the sound of leather on willow.

1. Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Book 5