Yes, politics is more complicated, but professional sports are quite complicated--google "NBA salary cap", or "NFL" and "franchise player", or "FIFA" and "posting fee", or "40-man roster rules" and you will see what I mean. That politics have real and direct consequences is the point of trying to channel the energy and fervor into something else.
The three strikes metaphor is particularly apt. In politics, it is a simple rule that has enormously bad consequences. In baseball, it is (1) far less draconian as well as far less consequential (each team has at least 27 attempts to score in a regulation game); (2) *far* less simple (foul balls count as the first or second strike but not the third strike, unless the foul ball is a bunt attempt; and if the catcher does not catch the third strike on the fly, the runner can try to get to first safely if first base is vacant or if two are out); (3) part of the game to recognize that the umpires will get some of the strikes wrong.
--tim francis-wright