Having said that, we go back to the main point of this post: baseball is the most boring sport in the world. Let's look at other sports first, shall we? Basketball: it requires skill to be able to dribble, shoot, pass. Football: it requires skill to be able to make a catch/interception, to recognize a play and dissect it, to evade defenders. Hockey: well, first it requires skill to just be able to skate, then it requires skill to be able to both defend AND laser a puck through a tiny space. Golf: it requires a TREMENDOUS amount of skill to be able to use what is basically a steel/iron rod to hit a tiny little ball hundreds of yards and actually place it where you want it. I think golf requires the most skill out of ALL of those sports, actually. What skill is required in baseball? Hand-eye coordination? Sure, but, let's face it, EVERY sport requires that, so baseball is not unique in that regard. Strength? To be able to blast the ball out of the park? SO many sports require raw strength; football, to launch the ball down the field; hockey, to slapshot a puck so hard it breaks the glass, etc etc. So, again, baseball is not unique in that regard. Where IS it unique, then? I'll give you a hint: it's not.
Baseball is truly the world's most boring sport. I can appreciate the boring-ness that comes with golf, because it requires a mind-boggling amount of skill. With baseball, however, I cannot; where is the excitement? I can see where people get excited when Jose Bautista smashes the ball out of the SkyDome; yeah, sure, that's cool. Is he going to do that EVERY time he swings the bat? Of COURSE not. So, where's the excitement in popping the ball out to left field, only to have the guy slowly jog towards it, raise his hand, and catch it? Again, I'll give you another hint: there's none.
The ONE area of baseball that I respect is the pitching. These are guys who can throw a ball to within inches of an area they mean to place it, from quite a fair distance away. Not only that, they're throwing the ball upwards of 90 km per hr. Finally, in addition to BOTH of those things, they can place curves on the ball, or spins or what-have-you...it's quite impressive. THAT requires a lot of skill, and that I respect. Everything else? Not really so much. I mean, I dunno, it's just so intensely boring. Sure, recognizing when to bunt, or to FAST bunt, or to steal a base, or all that other nonsense? That requires some skill. The true allure of baseball for so many are the home runs, and like I said earlier, every swing of the bat does not result in a homer; if it DID, that would be sweet, but, alas, it does not.
I think another situation that makes baseball dumb are the finances. Every other sport has agreements in place that allows any specific team to only have X amt of money being spent towards player salaries at any given time, aka, salary caps. The NBA, the NHL, the NFL...they all have salary caps, and there are penalties for going over that limit. The MLB, however, does not. That's why the Yankees are always so badmouthed; because they're so obscenely rich, the Yankees can afford to literally buy the best players, by paying them tens of millions of dollars, maybe even hundreds of millions, to come play for them for a decade or so. How on Earth is that fair at all? The answer, once again? It is not.
If I had to rank sports, they would probably be as follows: football, followed by a respectable second place finish by hockey, with a close runner-up for third in basketball...and here's where it gets muddy. I'd probably say, in no particular order, curling...golf.......chess....swimming....lacrosse, definitely....soccer.....horseshoes....cards (you know, like poker and stuff)....horseback riding.....running, jogging, walking.....sleeping (man, sleeping is awesome)....thinking......and then probably here, after 'existing', would I put baseball. It's the worst. I'm not saying that existing is bad, mind you...I quite like existing! Iit's just that I would rather do all those other things before I do baseball. Because it sucks.
Agreed. Went to a baseball game with my dad and we ended up talking throughout it. It was so dull.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, sleeping, thinking and existing are not sports, therefore your list of ranked sports is unrealistic. Second, baseball is not a boring sport and takes just as much skill as any high ranked sport such as football or basketball. Baseball has its own skill requirements that other sports don't have but it also takes skills from all those sports you mentioned. Right off the bat you mention that football requires skill to be able to make a catch/interception, to recognize a play and dissect it, to evade defenders. HOW DOES BASEBALL NOT ALSO REQUIRE THIS? Fielders have to make catches in order to finish plays (catches are not only simple pop flys that you think dont require any skill) Yes most of the time, fielders are within a few feet of the ball but I would like to see you try and judge a fly ball, the ones that are not hit right to the fielders actaully are very hard to judge and require quick judgements to move left/right, shallow or deep. Also, ground balls and line drives are no easy catch either. Line drives coming back at you at 60 mph require fast reaction and also hand eye co-ordination to judge where the ball is coming back at you that quickly.
ReplyDeleteNext you said that football takes skill to recognize a play. Baseball also requires skill to recognize a play both offensivly and defensively. Defensively,not only is there communication between the pitcher and catcher with what pitch to throw, there is also the skill needed by the rest of the fielders when to recognize an appropriate time to call a pick off or when to try for a force out or take the lead runner. Baseball also requires a tremendous amount of communication (im not saying other sports do not). Offensively, baseball requires skill to know when to bunt, drag bunt, slap bunt, when to shift your body to hit down third baseline or first base line, when to take an out on purpose or when to swing at a pitch (regardless of where it is thrown) in order to distract the catcher and hopefully advance the runner. On the bases, baseball requires speed and quick judgement as well as skill in sliding(you may laugh that sliding is not a skill, don't speak until you try it, its not an easy task my friend-sliding requires perfect timing and again quick judgement as to what type of slide you are going to do, there are several different types even though they all might look the same).
Baseball's main goal is not to smash a ball out of the park but clearly thats what you assume the game is about. It's about so much more and takes a lot of skill to play.
Side note: What is a fast bunt? I think you made that one up, I have never heard of it before...maybe I am just unaware of this term though
I'm not gonna lie, I dont know much about the politics behind baseball and salary caps that you bring up in your post but I do know that without salary caps, ticket prices can be raised and funds for the teams are taken from spectators. I don't really care about this issue that much, it's not affecting me and I really don't think a lot of people care. On that note, I'd like to point out that to go to a baseball game, you don't have to work for a 3 months to afford a decent ticket,or to afford a crappy ticket for that matter. In Toronto at least, jays tickets start as low as $11. Yes they are nosebleed seats but those are the most fun. The atmosphere at a baseball game is AMAZING, im not saying that its not at any other sporting games but even being in the 500 level at the rogers centre is a blast. Yes watching baseball isnt as exciting as a hockey game but the atmosphere is incredible and makes you proud to be a fan of the Jays (or whatever team you support).
I really think you need to rethink where you rank baseball and give it another chance because your ranking is outrageous. Maybe also try playing baseball (ie. playing catch or going to the batting cages) and then tell me how much little skill it requires.
Alright, so let's see:
ReplyDelete1) Yes, sleeping/thinking/existing are not sports. They ARE, however, more interesting that baseball. Sorry.
2) Are you seriously asking me how baseball doesn't have to deal with defenders? I don't know if you know how football works, but in football/basketball/hockey, offense and defense is being played at the same time in the same place. I already said hand-eye coordination is something that EVERY sports athlete requires, so baseball doesn't just get a free pass there. To go back to the original point, however; baseball does not have someone on the field interfering with the person making the catch. Football has someone trying to stop you from catching the ball, as does basketball, and hockey has people actively trying to stop you from getting the puck. Like I said, EVERY sport requires hand-eye coordination, so...let's not pretend baseball is special here, because it isn't.
3) I also already gave credit where credit is due: pitchers are quite fantastic. I will admit, I left out the catchers, as I thought it was sort of implied (considering their job is to catch what the pitcher throws), but, fine, since you're going to be picky: catchers are greatly skilled too.
4) What IS the main goal of baseball, then? Are you really going to argue that hitting home runs is a bad thing? As far as I can tell, that's what teams WANT. You only go for those other things, when you CAN'T blast the ball out of the park.
5) LOL. You are clearly very ignorant when it comes to the issue of the salary cap, because I can say with 100% certainty that you're wrong, and that not only do many many people care, it DOES affect you. You're a Jays fan, right? Well, you know why the reason they never make the playoffs is? It's not because they suck; let's face it, the Jays are a pretty good team, unlike the Raptors, for example. It's because the other teams in the division, such as Boston and New York, can afford, through their deep deep deep deep pockets, to buy out other players and pay them millions of dollars. It's then because of these players that the Red Sox and Yankees beat us all the time, and advance to win championships. It's quite ridiculous. It is basically limiting the people who are constantly at the top of the game to people who can afford it; teams with less richer people are constantly left at the bottom/by the wayside, such as the Orioles/Royals/Mariners/Pirates. You know what's interesting about those cities as well? In other sports, they have FANTASTIC teams, such as the Baltimore Ravens, or Pittsburgh Steelers/Penguins. That's because in those leagues, the General Managers (the people responsible for drafting, trading and signing players) are actually important in leveraging players/evaluating skill, rather than just going out and throwing money at a problem, like they do in the MLB. Until the day a salary cap is in place, the MLB will continue to be the joke of professional sports that it is.
6) Excuse me. You do not know that I've never played baseball, because I have never spoken to you about it. As a matter of fact, I *did* play baseball when I was younger. It is neither hard nor does it require any amount of skill to be good, and those are the reasons I no longer play now.
In the end, my ranking of baseball is perfectly fine where it is. All those other activities, regardless or not if they are professional sports, are way more exciting than baseball. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, buuut, that's the way it is.
I should also probably say the following: I know I come across as mean, and while I definitely intend for that to be the case when I type my replies, I still <3 you, rebecca, so don't be TOO offended.
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