And yes, we do hate America, why do you ask?

The main reason we don't like it? Hello, overkill. Seriously, we already play the National Anthem. Do we really need to hear two patriotic songs? What's next, playing John Ashcroft's Greatest Hits between innings? "God Bless the USA" every time a home run is hit? We really hate throwing down Godwin, but the playing of the song is a tad Nuremburg-ish. We also hasten to add that it's a little oft putting because the sport is more and more played by people with surnames like Ramirez, Martinez, and Suzuki. Wasn't that the point of the whole WBC?

Then there's the aesthetics of it, what it does to the viewing of the game. What is the mythology of baseball? That it moves to it's own pace, that it doesn't force anyone to do anything until they want to. Pitchers don't have to pitch the ball until they're good and ready, batters don't have to stand in the box until they're good and ready, and fans attending don't have to yell "Charge!" until they're good and ready. It's all about the leisure of it, the laid-back ness of it. Now suddenly, out of nowhere, we have to stand up, take off our hats, and sing some song most of us don't really feel like singing. And yes, we realize that we're kind of supposed to stand up for the 7th Inning Stretch and sing, but you don't really have to. If you don't stand, you don't get some grizzled old baseball vet telling you to stand up because Babe Ruth died so we could have the freedom to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."