Is it really baseball season already?

I'm going to lay aside for a moment how wrong Tuesday's Major League Baseball opener was.

I'm not going to mention how senseless it is to start playing baseball games before we've even reached the second weekend of March Madness.

And I'm not going to write about how blasphemous it is that the opener for "America's Pastime" was played thousands of miles across the ocean in Tokyo, Japan.

None of that is important today. All that's important is that the baseball season has begun. And ultimately, that is a good thing.

But I'm not going to lie and claim that I have some sort of religious appreciation for the game of baseball. You won't hear me waxing nostalgic about fabricated memories of days spent at the ballpark with my dad.

In fact, I will even say here and now that baseball is barely even a sport. When I think of sports, I think of things like football and basketball — games that take a far greater toll on the human body than baseball. In many ways, baseball is more of a hobby than a sport. It's probably more appropriately classified with things like croquet, horseshoes and badminton.

But this isn't meant to diminish the importance of baseball. Baseball is America's Passtime because it transcends beyond a mere game played on a field with a bat and ball. Baseball is ultimately an experience — part of the fabric of the American culture.

You can see this in the world of entertainment. Some of the best sports movies are those about baseball. There's movies like "The Natural," "A Field of Dreams," "Major League" and "For the Love of the Game." My personal favorite is "Bull Durham." It's a great movie, not so much in that it's about baseball, but that it uses the game to convey a greater — and quite hilarious — story.

Baseball's influence can be seen in the world of music as well. Songs like "The Greatest" by Kenny Rogers, "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen, and "Mrs. Robinson" by Paul Simon all reference baseball in one way or another. And of course, everybody knows the words to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." But the song the best captures the aura of baseball is no doubt John Fogerty's "Centerfield." Whenever I hear this song, I can't wait to put on my glove and head out under the warm sun. "Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play." (And I don't even play baseball.)

Baseball is not something that can be experienced via a TV set. And that is probably why baseball's popularity has fallen behind made-for-TV sports like basketball and football in recent years. But the strength of baseball is an afternoon at the ball park. It's barely even about the game. It's about eating a hot dog, feeling the warmth of the sun and maybe catching a foul ball. It's about being there.

But more than that, baseball is about summer. And that's why I'm happy to see the season under way.

Sure, it may still be basketball season. Sure, there' no reason to play the opener across the globe. And sure, baseball is barely even a real sport. But baseball is here all the same, bringing the warm innocent days of summer along with it. And that's something to feel good about.