Baseball Can Eat You Alive

[trysail]

I cannot think of another sport like baseball where— as a player— tension and stress can easily eat you up. All the other major American sports— football, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer/football— allow players to blow off steam easily because of the constant action and physical activity. Football players acknowledge "butterflies" before a game but are quick to admit that those butterflies go away with first contact. Most other games are the same; nervous anticipation quickly dissipates as soon as the contest begins.


Baseball is also one of the few sports where a jolt of adrenalin is counter-productive. When you're on the mound or in the batter's box in a close game, it is very, very easy to be conscious of the pressure. That's because of the game's slow pace. There's not a damn thing you can do about it; you have to manage and control the flight/fight instinct that's causing your elevated pulse. Since it's one of the few games where the defensive side has control of the ball, players have little control over the game's progress. It's mighty damn hard to hit a baseball in the first place ( how many endeavors are there where you're considered successful when you fail 7 times out of 10? ) It's made even harder when your knuckles are white, everybody is making noise and you're unconsciously trying to crush the bat handle.


Nervousness will lead to batters swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, pitchers "overthrowing" their fastball or losing control, baserunners making poor decisions and fielders committing errors. There's nothing quite like witnessing a "tightly wrapped" batter made to look foolish when their adrenalin-stoked swing is way ahead of a well-thrown off-speed pitch.


There's a reason baseball is called "the thinking man's game."

 

[ishtat]

I cannot think of another sport like baseball where— as a player— tension and stress can easily eat you up. All the other major American sports— football, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer/football— allow players to blow off steam easily because of the constant action and physical activity. Football players acknowledge "butterflies" before a game but are quick to admit that those butterflies go away with first contact. Most other games are the same; nervous anticipation quickly dissipates as soon as the contest begins.


Baseball is also one of the few sports where a jolt of adrenalin is counter-productive. When you're on the mound or in the batter's box in a close game, it is very, very easy to be conscious of the pressure. That's because of the game's slow pace. There's not a damn thing you can do about it; you have to manage and control the flight/fight instinct that's causing your elevated pulse. Since it's one of the few games where the defensive side has control of the ball, players have little control over the game's progress. It's mighty damn hard to hit a baseball in the first place ( how many endeavors are there where you're considered successful when you fail 7 times out of 10? ) It's made even harder when your knuckles are white, everybody is making noise and you're unconsciously trying to crush the bat handle.


Nervousness will lead to batters swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, pitchers "overthrowing" their fastball or losing control, baserunners making poor decisions and fielders committing errors. There's nothing quite like witnessing a "tightly wrapped" batter made to look foolish when their adrenalin-stoked swing is way ahead of a well-thrown off-speed pitch.


There's a reason baseball is called "the thinking man's game."

Cricket is very similar to Baseball in a number of ways.

1 Most games are fairly uneventful but occasionally contests are so closely fought or there are such dramatic changes of fortune that nerves are set to breaking point.

2 In cricket the roles are reversed all the advantages are with the batters and almost none with the bowlers (pitchers) but the dynamic is similar. Bowlers toil for ages for a break through instead of batters.

3 Both games are obsessed by statistics, I even met an American once who knew that Don Bradman's International batting average from 1928 to 1948 was 99.4!

4 The very first International Sporting team competition took place in 1844 between teams representing Canada and the United States. They drew a respectable crowd for the time of over 25,000. It was a cricket match.

5 Cricket has one big advantage in that there is a strong International competition with half a dozen sides of more or less equal strength. The national rivalries (eg India Pakistan) are enhanced by Black v White(West Indies v South Africa), religious rivalries Christian v Moslems v Hindus and Rastas and Colonials v ex colonials (England V anyone else!). The strongest teams are India , Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan & West Indies with about another dozen teams which can beat one of these occasionally.

6 One of crickets greatest bowlers ever was a man called J Bart King whose carreer was just before ww1 He was an American from Philadelphia.

7 2 years ago I was in India and was shown a shrine to the 'god' Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar is Indias and arguably the world's premier Batter and is literally idolised by his fans. Arguably considering the population of India Tendulkar is the worlds best known Sportsman but apart from the Carribean he is barely known in the Western hemisphere.

 

[Weird Harold]

Cricket is very similar to Baseball in a number of ways.

You forgot:

Baseball has to play at least seven inning to be considered a complete game; Cricket games are scheduled to last seven days.

That "seven day trials" scheduling for Cricket is the only thing that keeps Baseball from being the most boring sport in the world.

 

[Loring2]

A Game of ...

... instincts to be sure ... you can't think about hitting a fastball or a curve; you just react to it. The thinking part of the game is the 'cat and mouse' game played by the catcher and hitter.

But stiil, I watched a game in Oakland last nite; The Oakland starter had thrown a perfect game his last time out, against the Yankees no less and an imposing left hander he is.

Detroit started an even more impressive speciman of baseball's finest, a 6'5*, 225 pound right hander named Jason Verlander. My buddy Tom and I were overlooking the Detroit bullpen during warmups and the pop of Verlander's fastball into the bullpen catcher's mitt had the sound of a small caliber handgun's, report.
Pop! Pop!... time after time.

The game got underway and it was as good as advertised ... the pitchers ruled from the first pitch but then suddenly in the bottom of the second a gasp folllowed by a murmur as fans saw the radar gun speed on the scoreboard ... 102 MPH ... then 92, 94, 99 and the highest 103 mph.

I could go on and discribe the poetry and rhythm of Verlanders's motions as he pitched a complete 9 inning game. A rarity these days.

Yeah we lost but there wasn't much sadness, the A's are a good young team but this was Verlander's night. A beautiful performance, a virtuoso.

As we drove in to Marin up to San Rafael, Tom turned on the post game interview on radio and the interviewer, a former major leaguer himself asked Verlander one of those puffball questions "Well Jason, that was masterful and you made it look easy; How did you do it?'

Without missing a beat Verlander replied "I was able to keep it within myself " think about iy Trysail ... as you were saying "Keep it within yourself"

It works for me too and I turned 80 today. Now I could say it's because Verlander and I are both Southern boys, the Univ. of Va for Verlander and Tulane for me but that would be both true and meaningless so just "Keep it within yourself' in everything.

Loring

 

[manyeyedhydra]

You forgot:

Baseball has to play at least seven inning to be considered a complete game; Cricket games are scheduled to last seven days.

That "seven day trials" scheduling for Cricket is the only thing that keeps Baseball from being the most boring sport in the world.

5 days. And that's the only the Test version.

It's an old stereotype of cricket about people snoozing through games in the summer. The modern game is much more fast-paced and the players need to be athletes in fairly good shape nowadays.

The Twenty20 format is gaining a lot of popularity around the world. It's much shorter, around 3 hours - similar length to a baseball game, and a lot of the games come down to nailbiting finishes. Sri Lanka are playing New Zealand in a series of games in Florida to try and promote the game in the US.

 

[LaRocha]

nah, in baseball you have an official game after 4.5-5 innings.

 

[sdsioux]

nah, in baseball you have an official game after 4.5-5 innings.

The visiting time has to complete the fifth inning so the 4.5 is correct.

 

[jomar]

Golf.

 

[trysail]

Golf.

Yup— you're absolutely right. The thought that I'd forgotten golf occurred to me this morning and you beat me to the punch.


The thought of being on the final hole at the PGA tied for the lead with a long putt for a birdie to win could make one start to hear voices. Repeated variations on the theme without success would understandably lead to a massive accumulation of frequent flier miles at the shrink's office.

 

[LaRocha]

cricket and baseball are sports, golf and chess are games.

 

[jomar]

cricket and baseball are sports, golf and chess are games.

What does that make pro bass fishin'?

 

[jomar]

Yup— you're absolutely right. The thought that I'd forgotten golf occurred to me this morning and you beat me to the punch.


The thought of being on the final hole at the PGA tied for the lead with a long putt for a birdie to win could make one start to hear voices. Repeated variations on the theme without success would understandably lead to a massive accumulation of frequent flier miles at the shrink's office.

The announcers often talk about adrenaline when a lot is on the line...like using less club to compensate.

 

[trysail]

Cricket is very similar to Baseball in a number of ways.

1 Most games are fairly uneventful but occasionally contests are so closely fought or there are such dramatic changes of fortune that nerves are set to breaking point.

2 In cricket the roles are reversed all the advantages are with the batters and almost none with the bowlers (pitchers) but the dynamic is similar. Bowlers toil for ages for a break through instead of batters.

3 Both games are obsessed by statistics, I even met an American once who knew that Don Bradman's International batting average from 1928 to 1948 was 99.4!

4 The very first International Sporting team competition took place in 1844 between teams representing Canada and the United States. They drew a respectable crowd for the time of over 25,000. It was a cricket match.

5 Cricket has one big advantage in that there is a strong International competition with half a dozen sides of more or less equal strength. The national rivalries (eg India Pakistan) are enhanced by Black v White(West Indies v South Africa), religious rivalries Christian v Moslems v Hindus and Rastas and Colonials v ex colonials (England V anyone else!). The strongest teams are India , Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan & West Indies with about another dozen teams which can beat one of these occasionally.

6 One of crickets greatest bowlers ever was a man called J Bart King whose carreer was just before ww1 He was an American from Philadelphia.

7 2 years ago I was in India and was shown a shrine to the 'god' Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar is Indias and arguably the world's premier Batter and is literally idolised by his fans. Arguably considering the population of India Tendulkar is the worlds best known Sportsman but apart from the Carribean he is barely known in the Western hemisphere.

Ish-
The superficial complexity of cricket makes it very intimidating to non-initiates. Most throw up their hands without making much of an effort to comprehend the game. That was my attitude until a couple of years ago when, by pure chance, I stumbled upon a television broadcast ( I don't recall where but I have to guess it was probably the American Public Broadcasting System ) which attempted to explain cricket. Much to my amazement, the commentary succeeded in getting the basic outline of the field, the "ins" and "outs", scoring, bowling and batting strategy, runs, etc. through my exceedingly thick skull. It really isn't as complicated as it seems— though I am not currently prepared to volunteer to take a public on-line examination on the subject. There are places in the U.S. where cricket is and has been played for a long time; I've had glimpses from afar of matches being played on hot, languid, lazy Sunday afternoons.


The international aspect of cricket and its adoption by so many countries is fascinating. I've seen matches on fields hard by the sea in the West Indies where the appeal is obvious. What better way to spend an afternoon than observing a contest with a background of placid cobalt blue ocean, a lush green field and participants decked out in white? It's positively civilized. At times like that, I've regretted the fact that I never had the opportunity to learn the game.


As you related, unlikely political and religious juxtapositions occur. Cricket diplomacy has, on occasion, been more effective than that practiced by governments.



ETA:
There's no doubt that American baseball was derived from cricket/"rounders." The old story that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday is nonsense and a myth.

 

[LaRocha]

What does that make pro bass fishin'?

I don't know about Pros, but there's this pseudo koi pond out back of my buddy's gf's house stocked with LM bass, and you can catch 15 inchers left and right. Doesn't seem so sporting to me.

 

[Handley_Page]

Ish-
The superficial complexity of cricket makes it very intimidating to non-initiates.

Superficial ?
The only time cricket gets complex is in a Test Match, where there are many variables to account.
It's a great game, though!

 

[Boota]

I love baseball. In my younger days I was really good at it, but politics and endless bullshit takes you out of the spirit. I quit when I was fifteen and stayed out of it until I was in my early 30's. I came back to coach youth league baseball. My brother brought me in as a hitting coach for his team and I was hooked right back in.

Now the politics and bullshit is ruining it for my kids. What a waste of a great sport.

 

[trysail]

Superficial ?
The only time cricket gets complex is in a Test Match, where there are many variables to account.
It's a great game, though!

HP-
That was poor writing on my part. What I should have written was: The superficial complexity of cricket rules make it very intimidating to non-initiates."

My poorly expressed thought understandably led you to believe that I was sorely underestimating the strategic and tactical aspects of the game.

 

[DeeZire]

What cracks me up about sports is the rampant cheating - all in the name of building integrity. How many times do outfielders pretend they caught a fly when they dropped it, hoping to fool the umpire? How many times does the first baseman pretend he got the runner out when he knows the throw was late? Plus, you've got the people in the stands reading signs from the catcher and signaling the pitches to the dugout. In football, basketball and hockey it's even worse. The whole point is to foul the other guy without getting caught. And we wonder why the business world is dominated by cheaters who have no respect for rules? They learned it playing sports in school.

Why is it that the most boring sport of all - baseball - doesn't have cheerleaders? For my money, the most entertaining aspect of professional baseball is the TV commercials. The game itself is utterly inane, unless you're gay and get off on watching a bunch of ripped dudes flexing and spitting and scratching their ball sacks.

Thank you. I feel much better now.

 

[Weird Harold]

5 days. And that's the only the Test version.

30+years ago when I was stationed in England, there were both five-day and seven-day "trials." There were shorter club-level and "Friendlies" games that were only scheduled for one or two days, too, but any game that even HAS a version scheduled to last for five days is severely handicapped as a spectator sport for the waking world.

The only thing that saves Cycling and NASCAR from being in contention for the most boring sport is the crashes.

 

[ishtat]

30+years ago when I was stationed in England, there were both five-day and seven-day "trials." There were shorter club-level and "Friendlies" games that were only scheduled for one or two days, too, but any game that even HAS a version scheduled to last for five days is severely handicapped as a spectator sport for the waking world.

The only thing that saves Cycling and NASCAR from being in contention for the most boring sport is the crashes.

The chance to say categorically that Harold is wrong about something (anything) is just too tempting.

When you were in UK Harold the international Test (not Trial) matches were played four innings over 5 days - never seven days, but in those days they took Sundays off.

Top class club matches were then played 4 innings over 3 days(now 4 days)

One day games were of one innings each of either 40 overs (240balls) or 50 overs(300balls) each team.

The last so called Timeless Test was between England and South Africa at Durban SA in 1938/9. That game was unfinished after 10 days because the England team had to leave to catch their ship home.

Basically it would be more accurate to compare a Test match with a World series in terms of time taken.

Anyone that thinks 20/20 cricket is tedious should look up IPL on Youtube.

 

[oggbashan]

I enjoy watching village cricket. Although it is an amateur sport, I think the amateur game is more interesting than the professional. The changes of fortune are more frequent, and errors of play are likely to change the result.

It is usually for one day only, with limited overs.

You can sit or stand at the edge of the pitch, with a glass of beer in your hand, and relax.

My eldest daughter's former partner was his village's demon bowler. He was an amateur boxer as well as a cricketer, weighing in at 20 stone (280lb) of muscle and bone. Facing his bowling, as he hurled a hard ball at nearly 100 mph, was intimidating. He was the village's only black, the only black cricketer in the local league, and a legend for his bowling statistics.

Fifteen years since he started playing for the village, he is no longer the only black in the village, no longer the only black cricketer in the league which now has British West-Indians, British Indians, and British Pakistanis. The standard of cricket has generally improved and the cricket clubs help to integrate the new arrivals into the village communities.

Og

PS. "Former partner" by mutual agreement. They are still friends.

 

[Weird Harold]

The chance to say categorically that Harold is wrong about something (anything) is just too tempting.

I yield to your greater interest and research. I'm working from memories older than most Literoticans about a subject I was never particulary interested in except as a punchline.

If you're looking for a boring championship series, the NBA post-season stretching over nearly two months has to be a contender.

 

[Verdad]

Snooker is another contender for the most-soporific-to-watch category. I've still watched a few hours in a moment of critical boredom, though, which is more than I can say about baseball!

Today, hubby was persuaded to go for a game of bocce (a kind of boules.) I teased him it's a game for older than sixty only, but turns out he had great fun playing.

 

[driphoney]

Snooker is another contender for the most-soporific-to-watch category. I've still watched a few hours in a moment of critical boredom, though, which is more than I can say about baseball!

Today, hubby was persuaded to go for a game of bocce (a kind of boules.) I teased him it's a game for older than sixty only, but turns out he had great fun playing.

Like shuffleboard!

I played it once as a kid with my grandparents and their neighborhood friends (Florida: retirees). One, I had a great time and two, I was sore the next day, they weren't!

 

[Verdad]

Like shuffleboard!

I played it once as a kid with my grandparents and their neighborhood friends (Florida: retirees). One, I had a great time and two, I was sore the next day, they weren't!

That's the score here too.