If there is something universal in this, something that reaches beyond sport fandom and into other kinds of fandom, it would seem to be obsession. Obsessive behavior is something people of diverse interests can appreciate. Helen Fielding, a British writer, wrote a novel, Bridget Jones's Diary , that earned a cover blurb from Nick Hornby himself, it was so Hornbyish in its chronicling of obsessions, but Bridget Jones didn't care a whit about sports. She obsessed about calories, and male fuckwittage, and alcohol units. Much of the writing about popular culture that has appeared in Bad Subjects over the years has been inspired by obsession.
Writing is the methadone to the heroin of our obsessions, one addiction replacing another.
And I am one king-hell obsessive when it comes to baseball. Baseball is a sport that encourages obsessions. Baseball encourages obsessions. Such obsessions force me to use my brain. It's rare that I experience baseball without my brain being engaged.