I somehow stumbled onto ESPN on Saturday afternoon and they were showing the New York Yankees play the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Fenway park is seen as the home of baseball from what I can pick up, and it seats around 40000 fans.
Baseball is huge in the States and I’ve always wondered what the fascination is? After watching this game, I can tell you the only conclusion I can come to is that baseball fans are sad and boring people.
Its a pitchers game
The problem I see is that baseball is it’s a pitchers game. They throw so fast, that as a batter, its pretty much a guessing game of where and when to swing. In 9 innings, exactly 1 run was scored. Not a home run, just a couple of hits, and eventually 1 New York player got around to score. *Yawn*. All you ever hear the commentators says is “Swing and a miss!”. How boring is that?
With regards to skill, the only skills I really saw came from the pitchers ability to throw curve balls, swing balls, dropping balls (when the ball curves downwards as it gets close to the batter) and really fast balls.
There were 1 or 2 moments of skill by the fielders, but by using mits, it takes the skill out of catching and fielding. *Yawn*
Baseball versus Cricket
5 day cricket test matches sometimes can get a little boring, but there are passages of the game that are really exciting. Both teams can attack and defend while on the field, where as in baseball, there is no attack or defense.
Also, take the 20/20 format of cricket. Whats the purpose of it? To see batsmen smash the ball to all corners of the field! Attacking cricket is really awesome to watch, whether you batting or bowling!
So, baseball fans, what the hell is the fascination?
25 Comments
11:07 am
Permalink
I’d have to agree that baseball is boring. I’d go much further and say that televised Rugby, Cricket and Football are all a total waste of time.
With the combined hours and energy this country has wasted parked in front of the idiot box shouting about nothing we could probably have rebuilt Koeberg, purged the government of corrupt morons or cured Aids.
Of course I realise that this may be a somewhat extreme point of view, but hey its mine, and now its out there.
1:13 pm
Permalink
While I disagree with just about everything you just said, I’d like to point out that what you saw isn’t typical of your average baseball game. The game between the Red Sox and the Yankees that you witnessed featured two of the best pitchers in professional baseball pitching very very well, even for them. Such games are often referred to as a “pitcher’s duel”, the average final baseball game score is more like 5-4.
As for the rest of what you wrote, the only thing I can say that is both concise and polite is that you just don’t know what you are talking about or are most likely not very familiar with the game of baseball. I can assure you that in addition to the pitchers, all the other position players (especially on the two teams you witnessed) are very skilled at what they do both batting and fielding and command very large sums of money applying those skills everyday.
6:21 pm
Permalink
@Luke – you view on sport is an extreme! :-) I love watching sport.
@DDR – a pitchers game or not, it was very boring to watch. On the subject of skills, don’t confuse money and skills. Baseball, like most sports on television, are all about marketing, thus the reason for large salaries and so forth. So just because a player earns a lot of money, doesn’t make him brilliant.
Cricket is a far more skillful game than baseball. The same with rugby being a far superior game to NFL football.
Why do baseball players use mits? To make catching and fielding easier, thus my argument about skills. I won’t disagree with your pitchers argument. They are really the only skilled players on the field. And the fact that some of baseballs “best” batters are overweight and unfit, makes my argument that they not really sportsmen or have much skill other than power hitting, even greater!
Oh, and baseball’s World Series. Who competes in that? The US only? Haha!
Baseball, in my opinion, is a joke. :-)
9:19 pm
Permalink
I totally agree. You know what’s really exciting, when football players take a dive and spend a few minutes holding their ankle and writhing around like they’ve just been shot or something.
And then they get up and continue playing, miraculously. Yep, nothing gets my heart a-racin’ quite like that.
8:16 am
Permalink
@Jon – Haha! You watch the soccer just to see players diving and acting? Shame dude, no wonder its so boring for you!
I watch the soccer for the skill, goals and attacking action!
7:33 pm
Permalink
Guess your a cricket fan! As a younster I started playing cricket and was as you put it got ‘bored’ from the first game. I had a father who both played and watched cricket till the cows came home. I on the other hand could not stand watching a 5 day games and even 3 days games. Come on talk about how boring the British can make things – they’re so long winded!
Anyway, I was introduced to baseball via a couple of my friends at a local club in Cape Town. Well the rest is history. Its so exciting to play and you get to bat at least 3 or more times. Unlike cricket if you are out for a duck then your done. You could stand out in the field forever and never really get a ball especailly if the batsman plays safe. At baseball you only get 3 strike so you better swing or you are out, so there are always hits to anywhere in the field.
Watching a professional game like Boston vs Yankees one doesn’t expect to much to happen but when it does then you’ll see skill.
It not easy taking a round bat and hitting a ball thrown at 95MPH at that distance. There no such thing as blocking. You either it hit or get out of there. BUT you get to go again.
I played baseball against the likes of Kallis and WP and guess what they wore gloves too. They also enjoy it as it happened more than once.
Why you think they went with 20/20 because cricket is becoming a boring game that fewer people are watching. I watch many a game at Newlands and enjoy it as it’s a sport that has its own skill level as do other sports.
Have you ever played both games or are you one who sits at home a supports TV advertising?????
4:39 pm
Permalink
Look I don’t like cricket, I love it…. But there is no game like baseball. The best game with the best field ever.
More skill is needed for baseball than cricket for sure… firstly there are far more rules in baseball than cricket so it’s more about the style of the game and there are stats for every single play on the field, cricket the fielder drops a ball big laugh and go on. Baseball error gets recorded against that fielder, pitcher and team. Secondly more balls get thrown to the player by player, like a double play…i want to see a second base catch a screamer of a throw to his chest, catch it, touch the base get out the way of the runner trying to take you out and make the same type of throw to fist… takes the skill out of catching…ha ha write, if so, a wicket keeper that has gloves, does this make a wicket keeper the worst fielder on the team? But let me tell you there is a skill in fielding with a baseball glove and the transition of the ball to glove to throwing hand and getting the runner out. It looks easy but come try and you will find out…
Then there is the boundaries, take Cape Town’s cricket ground, a 6 hit out the stadium over the stands over the railway track. Wow big hit, laid back got under it full on pull shot, nice… in baseball terms far foul, say it was fair, routine catch for the outfielder, a few feet sort of the shortest boundary wall. That is just one of the big differences and you can not face 20 balls to get your eye in first.
Only skilled player on the baseball field is the pitcher? wrong, what about the catcher behind the batter? No skill involved there? Don’t know what you talking about do you?
The World Series is the worlds best baseball teams playing so yes the teams come from USA but the line up is not just American players. Were you maybe looking for “World Baseball Classic” that is played by countries teams.
Okay this is way to much tipping let me get back to work…
10:00 pm
Permalink
Yeah, you kind of have to be there to enjoy the beer and peanuts while you watch… Also, minor league games tend to be more exciting because the players are young and there are more hits… If you ever visit New York, check out a Brooklyn Cyclones game instead of the Yankees or Mets!
Cheers,
Julienne
5:20 pm
Permalink
Hi guys
Duwane, you sir have hit the nail on the head. The person writing this article needs to get back to the drawing board. Do some more reading, get more knowledge on the game before they make statements like they’ve made.
Until you play the game, don’t knock it. Keep you silly comments to yourself rather.
cheers,
Nathan
11:51 am
Permalink
peolpe that say baseball is boring are boring!!
12:50 pm
Permalink
6 home runs in 6 balls,has baseball ever seen it! International cric has seen it many times! I m glad i m a cricket fan.thx god .
9:44 am
Permalink
Josh Hamilton from Texas hit 28 homeruns in round 1 of the 2008 home run derby. The last guy in cricket to hit 6 in 6 balls was Gibbs from South Africa at the world cup. Have not seen it been done so many times, and once again cricket is only what +- 60 maby max 75 feet to the rope… baseball is 330 feet. Mark Mc Gware in 1999 hit a 590 feet home run. Thank God i got the best of both worlds!
9:54 am
Permalink
ok i just read that and cricket is never 60 to 75feet. LOL Its about 150feet
4:24 pm
Permalink
Jason, thank you sooo much for posting this, I feel the exact same way. THe way they talk about baseball on the radio is what really gets me upset. For example if the yankees were to win 3 in a row they talk about it as if they autamtically are becoming a better team and the season is going to turn around. You’ll start hearing all this talk after three games when there still over 100 games left to play. 3 games out of 160 is not a good measure of anything. There are way to many games in baseball and the fact that the yankees play their “Rival” Redsox like 16 times in a season doesnt make so much of a rivalry to me. Not to mention the fact that the Yankees have lost 5 straight to them.I really think that he only reason baseball is so popular is because od the tradition (its been around so long). If I had to rank the four major sports:
1.basketball- fast paced action, more realistic rivalries(bulls celtics first round), requires varity of skills at every position
2. football- not so fast paced, the shorter schedule makes every single game more exciting to watch cause they mean alot more as oppose to baseball.( if the game your playing requires you to play 160 games in a season you dont have to be so sklled)
3. Hockey-boring but not as much as baseball. Has gotten better with the addition of the shootout though.
4.baseball-I forgot to mention steriods to. Out of all the sports its sad that the sport that requires the least amount of skill has the most problem with its best players Cheating!!!
1:42 am
Permalink
Hi Ladies & Gents.
A couple of points, the World Series was originally sponsored by the World New Paper, hence the name.
One of the reasons that bb use gloves is that the ball speed thrown on average is close to 150km per hour and this is from a person anywhere between 45 to 90 ft away. The hitters hit the ball upto 3 times the distance that cricketers do.
We played a couple of night ball matches at Newlands Cricket fields and we were hitting the ball from the one boundary over the opposite boundary, and our fielders were throwing the ball on a level plain from boundary to boundary.
The real problem is to understand that it is a round ball, a round bat but you need to hit it square to be effective.
I agree, 5 day cricket is exciting. 1 day is almost tollerable and 20/20 is an abomination.
Try it before you dis it.
Go Bokke!!
8:55 pm
Permalink
As soon as I read the terms “swing ball” and “dropping ball”, I stopped taking your opinion seriously.
9:14 pm
Permalink
Swingball – now there’s a sport worth blogging about. Baseball is dry like camel poo
9:56 am
Permalink
Thanks for commenting on this old post Andrew because I was actually reminded how pathetic Baseball really just a few days ago…
Ever watched play of the day on ESPN? Yeah, so when one of those overweight fielders runs about 20m to catch a ball above his head WITH his massive mit – and makes play of the day, you know baseball is complete rubbish.
American football is the kids version of rugby, and baseball the same for cricket. Americans should try and play some real sports that actually involve some form of skill. :)
Keep the debate coming guys. Love it!
5:24 pm
Permalink
I’d have to agree with you that baseball (especially this season w/ no close races) is boring to watch on TV. I can’t bear to watch a 4-hr match anymore; I usually only watch when my team at bat, and only on defense in the latter innings. But the game is so much fun to play and much better to watch in person w/ family.
As for the other sports:
1) American football: great on TV, good in person (a lot of dead time), OK to play.
2) Basketball: good on TV, good/great in person (some of the best athletes; even slow big guys have a lot of skill), fun to play.
3) Hockey: bad on non-HDTV, great in person, fun to play.
4) Soccer: boring on TV, very good in person, very fun to play.
5) Cricket & Rugby: no comment.
6:24 pm
Permalink
They use gloves so the ball doesn’t break their hands when it’s hit at 100 miles per hour.
6:27 pm
Permalink
You’re saying American sports require no skill? I bet you could never be near as good as any of those players.
3:51 pm
Permalink
Hey guys. I’m from Cape Town. I’ve played all of the above sports you guys have mentioned except for american football simply ‘cos it’s not offered as a sporting code where I come from, or SA for that matter. I currently still play baseball and think it’s a good game. Each and every sport has it’s individual unique skills and skill levels. That’s what makes sport exciting. But to say baseball takes no skill… Well… Let’s just say, you’re wrong… Some of you say overweight and unfit players… How well will some of you do facing a 95m/ph and up fastball and hitting it with a round piece of wood??? Any luck… I’ll tell you… FAT chance… In rugby, why are locks taller than front rowers??? Why do wings run faster than forwards? Any luck?… In basketball… why are pointgaurds generally smaller than any other position… In cricket? why is cover point a specialist position??
Take all these into consideration when saying baseball does not require any skill gents… These are just a few simple examples of specialist positions within a team sport which make them unique… Baseball is much the same, just with 9 specialist postions… Same thing in the hitting order… same thing with the pitching roster… Each game, each postion, each situation, each batting turn, every pitch basically represents a new statistic which requires another strategy… And if that doesn’t take any skill, then I must clearly be off my nut…
Use it or not… My 2 cents
7:48 pm
Permalink
Baseball takes no skill? Anybody who says that obviously knows nothing about baseball. The reason why they use mitts is because it would be IMPOSSIBLE to make defensive plays without it. Even something as simple as throwing from Shortstop to First base would break a players hand without a mitt, much less a line drive right at you. If you think otherwise, you are an ignorant fool. I play adult league baseball so i KNOW WTF I am talking about. No defense? Baseball has WAY more complex defensive plays than cricket. In cricket, it’s solely about getting the ball back to the wicket. In baseball there are infinite defensive situations which a player must be aware of. Examples, runners on 1st and 3rd, one out, what do you do……..? Runner on second, hard line drive in the gap, runner going home, what do you do…….? One run game, leadoff hitter gets on, bottom of the 7th, what might happen…….? Ground ball between 1st and 2nd, 1st baseman goes to field it, who covers first base……? Cricket has NO complexity on defense other than where to position the players. Baseball players must relay, make double plays, catch, throw, tag, and get the ball to the right base at the right time. Oh, and baseball players don’t put on more pads than an American Football player when they go to the plate like cricketers when they stand in. Baseball players face 90mph naked. I guarantee you I could start playing cricket RIGHT NOW and KICK SOME A$$ at it. All you cricketers dissing on baseball can just STFU.
7:59 pm
Permalink
And on the 360 degree hitting subject, baseball DOES have this. Fouling off pitches is a very important part of hitting is baseball. While you don’t get to run when you hit them, they are critical when a pitcher throws a good pitch such as a hard low and away slider with two strikes. I personally foul off pitches until I get one I can hit fair. All this must be done in a few tenths of a second with a round long narrow bat, not a pickleball paddle like cricketers use. Plus my buddy Ed down the street makes my bats, which means baseball is way better ;)
10:37 am
Permalink
hey jeremy… well said… 2 things tho… in cricket, fielding is a breeze as i’m sure you can relate due to playing baseball… even without a glove… however, the hitting side of cricket is also an art hey… it’s actually not that easy… I too thought the transition from baseball to cricket would be easy… but, you have to contend with a bouncing ball, an uneven pitch maybe, movement, deviation… to mention buit afew… I assure you it’s not that simple… What I can say, having played baseball equips you with some of the skill needed to hit the hell out of a cricket ball… that’s why i enjoyed cricket… to see how far you can hit the ball with a rectangular piece of would… LOL!