Baseball:Like hitting a bullet with another bullet...

[frankmcr]

it's as if baseball consisted of a runner on 1st trying to reach 2nd, and then the other team tries to reach 1st from second, over and over and over again.

But hey, those who like it are free to do so.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Softball's a blast because of the smaller field, as a spectator you feel right on top of the action.

In Chicago, we play a lot of slow pitch 16" softball...it's really just an organized drinking game. But it's as fun as it gets.

Social interaction at its best!

Originally Posted by Mycroft

And as a nod to the hitters is watching one with two strikes fouling off pitch after pitch...

Yes, definitely. It's a mental battle too, between pitcher and hitter. The longer it goes, the more intense it becomes. But the pitcher wins more often. Conversely, when the hitter does, it can be a lot more devastating to the pitcher.

Originally Posted by raysachs

Wow, I have no memory of that thread, but thanks for the retraction I guess… 😎

I was a pretty fair schoolboy athlete but the thing I absolutely couldn’t do worth a (expletive of your choice) was hit a baseball, even one that was pitched in a manner intended to be easy to hit, let alone in a situation where a pitcher was actually trying to get me out. I just sucked at it. I was a pretty fair tennis player and an OK-ish golfer, so it wasn’t that I lacked hand-eye coordination, but I didn’t have THAT skill even a little bit. OTOH, I had the privilege of being a Phillies fan for a number of years when John Kruk did color on Phillies TV games. One of the funniest guys in sports. I recall some occasion when someone asked him a question about what it was like being an athlete, and his response was something like ‘an ATHLETE?!?!?! - I wasn’t an athlete, I was a ball player’!

For my money, the greatest athletes I’ve ever watched are NBA players. To have the kind of body control, quickness, jumping ability, and ability to shoot a ball while moving at those speeds, and suddenly pull up for a jumper, with a guy equally quick and agile defending against everything you’re trying to do? To me, those are the ultimate athletes. But we obviously all have our own opinions.

-Ray

You make a good point. For sheer athleticism, it's hard to beat the elite skill level of NBA players. The article does make a point that even the greatest among them, like MJ, can't break out of the minor leagues when trying baseball, but that just strengthens the argument that baseball is not necessarily about possessing the pure athletic skill sets that NBA players do, and arguably NFL players as well. Baseball is more about a specialized version of skill that only a few can also master. You can be slow and even pudgy around the middle, but still strike fear when swinging a bat or throwing at home plate.

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Basketball is boring.

I would say, for the great majority of viewers who appreciate team sport played at its highest level, even for casual fans of the game itself, basketball is DEFINITELY NOT boring.

Originally Posted by tinnitus

A sat and watch some golf for a while last week and eventually realized it had been on pause the whole time.

Oh no, you're not thinking of switching to LIV golf, are you?

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

it's as if baseball consisted of a runner on 1st trying to reach 2nd, and then the other team tries to reach 1st from second, over and over and over again.

I think that's already been covered....

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

And remember, it is space, not the ball, that is moving.

Got it!

[KenL]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

In Chicago, we play a lot of slow pitch 16" softball...it's really just an organized drinking game. But it's as fun as it gets.

I have some fond memories of playing shortstop on a coed 16" softball team in Loveland, CO in 1980. Gorgeous summer nights and beers in the parking lot after.

You could hit that big ball quite a ways in that cool night air at el. 4,982'.

[Slothead56]

I think it was Sam Snead who convinced Ted Williams that golf was more difficult than baseball because Williams didn’t have to go up in the stands to play his foul balls.