I’ve got this friend Justin who always seems to talk about baseball to me. I don’t really know why, considering I usually don’t pay any attention and then tell him I just don’t care.

So when I found myself skipping over “Monday Night Football” and “Raw” to Fox for a little baseball the other night, I was a little scared for myself.

And when I jumped up and cheered when Kenny Lofton had the hit that sent the San Francisco Giants to the World Series, I knew something was terribly wrong — I might actually like baseball.

I’m still at odds about the whole issue, so I figured the best way to sort it all out is to consider the pros and cons.

Here are the top five reasons why baseball and I just don’t get along.

5. The strikes and the threat of strikes.

For some reason, baseball just can’t settle on labor agreements, and it’s really annoying. When the strike occurred in 1994, I thought it was absurd that a strike held professional athletes from doing what they are supposed to do — play the damn game.

This season’s strike threat brought up the same feelings — if it would have happened again, this sport would have lost a lot of fans.

4. The regular season is flat-out boring.

I understand that all the series and games are leading up to a bigger event, but I wish it was like a PlayStation 2 game, where you could just simulate the regular season and start right up with the playoffs.

3. Alex Rodriguez and his big-money contract.

The athletes that should make the most money are great pitchers and great quarterbacks. They are all alone, they have the most pressure and they affect a ball game — on a consistent basis — more than any other player on the field.

2. When I was in fourth grade, I was playing catch with my oldest brother, and I caught a popfly right in the eye. I had the biggest shiner you can imagine.

I don’t know if I was afraid of the ball after that, but from then on, I never wanted to play baseball and therefore I never really got into it.

1. George Brett, my first and only favorite baseball player, retired in 1993.

He was a third baseman and later a first baseman for the Kansas City Royals. He ruled.

He is best known for the pine-tar incident, but I know him as my first boyhood hero. My dad drove me to see him on my 11th birthday, and I have over 100 of his baseball cards.

When he retired from baseball, I retired from being a fan.

Here are the top five reasons why I’m beginning to become a fan again.

5. When Mark McGwire was chasing the home run record in 1998, I was loving it.

I felt the same when Barry Bonds was doing it last year. It’s just fun to witness history in the making.

4. The excitement of a good playoff game in any sport is fun, but when a baseball player is standing at the plate with a full count and a chance to win a huge game, it is rather exciting.

3. Chicago Cubs games and Old Style beer.

What more can I say?

2. The traditions baseball carries are unparalleled.

When a pitcher hits a batter and then the opposing pitcher hits a batter to rebut, that’s awesome. Or when a player charges the mound after getting hit and the benches automatically clear.

When a manager kicks dirt on home plate, or when Giants manager Dusty Baker stole a base last year in the middle of an argument with an ump.

You just can’t beat that stuff.

1. I love rooting for the underdogs, and this year’s World Series has two wild card teams who weren’t supposed to make it this far.

The New York Yankees are nowhere to be found, and Bonds has a chance to add to his amazing career.

I had to mention Bonds again because I love to listen to Bonds haters talking about how he crowds the plate and wears body armor on his arm. Since it is all legal, I wonder why more players don’t do it, instead of complain about it.

I’m a little disappointed that the Minnesota Twins couldn’t make it to the series, but hopefully this will keep them from contraction for a couple years.

Listen to me Justin, I’m talking about baseball.

Maybe I am becoming a real baseball fan, or maybe I’m just looking for more reasons to celebrate.

Either way, go Giants and go Bonds.

Kyle Moss

is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.