Baseball is a funny sport.

Fans of the sport in Ohio have been privy to those details for the past few months with the performances of the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and even the Ohio State Buckeyes.

In no other sport are the streaks so pronounced or momentum so important. The day-to-day nature of the games means runs are much more important than any other sport.

Case in point: At press time, the Indians were on a nine-game winning streak. As the wins keep coming, the anticipation has kept building to the point that many fans expect the Indians to win and keep the streak alive.

This is a phenomenon many Cleveland fans are used to. Back in the Indians’ heyday of the mid-to-late 90s, especially in the magical season of 1995, fans went to the ballpark expecting the Indians to bludgeon the opposing team. And they often obliged; while running up a 100-44 record, the Indians had what seemed like a different hero every night in racking up dramatic win after dramatic win. That squad was perhaps the best example of how a string of wins can become infectious.

On the FSN Ohio broadcast of Sunday’s win over Arizona, with the Indians one out away from closing it out, play-by-play man John Sanders noted how it felt like 1995 all over again. Fans were on their feet, willing their team to another victory that they had fully expected from the game’s beginning.

While the magic has seemingly returned in Cleveland, the story was much the same here on campus. It was a season of amazing runs for the Ohio State baseball team. The Buckeyes won 10 in a row before falling into a horrific slump that saw them in last place in the Big Ten at one point. After that, somehow, the ship immediately turned around, and OSU won 20 of 23 and the Big Ten title. Only in baseball could a team have hot and cold runs on top of each other like that.

On the other side of the spectrum are the Cincinnati Reds. It could be said that the Reds have been on a downward spiral since winning the World Series in 1990, but for argument’s sake I’ll just focus on this season. What started out as a promising season with a sweep of the New York Mets has turned into a nightmare. With a record of 27-42 at press time, a season of cautious optimism has imploded into disaster. Lousy free agent signings and a thin farm system have combined to doom the Reds. No one can hit in the clutch or pitch with any consistency, leaving Reds fans holding their heads. The negative momentum spread like a plague through the team.

The streaks can even be confined to a small part of the team. Last season, the Indians bullpen opened the season horribly, blowing the team’s first games with late collapses. From there, the bullpen had a historically bad first few months that nearly killed any chance the Indians had. This season, the bullpen has been excellent, while the offense, which excelled last season, has struggled this year.

I’m sure nobody expected third baseman Aaron Boone and outfielder Casey Blake to enter June still on the interstate with batting averages below .200. I’m also sure nobody expected the Indians to lead the majors in ERA or have five relievers with an ERA under 3.

That’s the beauty of baseball. In no other sport are the momentum swings so important from day to day. Football teams tend to dramatically yo-yo between seasons because of the salary cap and the resulting parity in the NFL, but because games are a week apart and the season is only 16 games long, there is no discernable rhythm to it. The drudgery and relative meaningless nature of the NBA and NHL seasons suffer from the same problem.

But in baseball, rhythm is everything. With only eight of 30 teams making the playoffs, each game is important. Because of the everyday nature of the regular season, momentum tends to carry over. One guy hits well and it spreads. One player comes through with a clutch base hit and it spreads. On the flip side, one pitcher blows a lead, and concern sweeps through the clubhouse. No one wants to catch that disease.

Fans in Ohio can at least be thankful for this baseball spring and summer. It has confirmed that the sport is the most maddening, the most unpredictable, and the most beautiful of all.

Jeff Svoboda is a senior in journalism and political science. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].