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Why is baseball the best sport on the planet? Discuss. (4 Viewers)

liftapint said:
I mean yeah, there are a lot of minor league levels, so it makes sense that there are a lot of rounds to their drafts.

I didn't know about how horribly racist baseball is. I'm actually surprised by this, given how international the player pool is. I'm going to research about this, because that really sucks. I believe you, for sure. It just really sucks to hear that.
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They’ve been making some changes in the minor league front. It just seems weird to have so many openings personally.

At the bottom leagues you’re getting almost no pay, traveling in cramped busses, and relying on host families many times for room and board, food, etc.

I mean I guess I get it if it’s only meant for kids and a place to have fun until you’re 23, but that’s not the case. I really wish the bigger players and MLBPA would throw their weight behind helping those minor leaguers, but I guess they’ve “all paid their dues” and are more focused on their current benefits and issues.

But again, positive, it’s come more into focus and headlines in recent years.
 
I used to be a baseball fan when I was younger. Not really a fan anymore. Didn't realize how much I was not a fan until I turned on the World Baseball Classic final, and I heard them say that the guy at the plate was the MVP last year and I'd never heard of him! So, if I'm not a baseball fan, why was I watching the World Baseball Classic? Urgency. Every game meant something. The two biggest problems with baseball are 1) too many games, and 2) it's too slow. Each game doesn't matter. Lose a 3 game series? That's fine, there's 159 more!

It's a game that was invented in the 19th century and refuses to try to stay relevent. I'm actually shocked they are doing the pitch clock. I hope it helps.
 
I think a “sport” is a collection of similar “games” that are played for paid entertainment or valor/glory.

If they are played for paid entertainment then the players are “entertainers”.
If they are played only for valor or glory then the players are “athletes”.
 
BarrieJ3 said:
I did mention already other sports can be racist as well. And in fact, baseball was pioneering in moving past racism historically.

But if you want to know, ask Mookie Betts. Ask Preston Wilson.

I’m not being stirring the pot or saying that MLB is evil, please notate that.

The MLB African American presence has been dwindling for years. Recent years have the % of players down to 7. That’s meaningless without notating that it was at 20ish at its peak (can fact check but those should both be within a %).

Of course the experience will be subjective and change from person to person, but in almost all outside reports done, blacks in the MLB report it….not being a good time. Not by anyone persons fault, not because anyone is racist. But simply because, MLB doesn’t engender itself to the African American community. Their culture, their background, their history - it’s mostly lost in clubhouses where white america and Hispanic/central/South America cultures reign supreme. N word, nooses, etc can be found in locker rooms - again not necessarily with ill intent.

And when you have all stars, faces of the league, reporting how lonely and rediculous they feel in mlb and mlb locker rooms - imagine minor league players.
It’s an issue that MLB has been actively trying to solve because of course they want more eyeballs - and they just can’t change core values that easily or quickly.

It’s so easy to get lost in subjective examples and conflicting reports and everything else - especially on PCF.

I guess to help it hit home I would leave it at this. In the past 10 years, if I go to a NBA game on the sideline seats and yell Coon or Nig*er, I’ll be lucky to just be banned from all NBA venues for life. If I go sidelines at an NFL game and do the same and players hear me, yup it’s trouble. If I go to an MLB stadium and yell the same?

Ask Torri Hunter. Brunson, DeShields, Adam Jones.

Those fans get to keep coming back.

And before someone says “I’ve heard someone yell it at a different sports game”, then you’re missing the point.

There are leagues where when that happens fans are removed immediately. Where players feel comfortable letting officials and employees know if they want action taken. MLB? That’s more a, you learn to live with it and either worry about or figure what’s the point reporting.

Again, not villianizing American Baseball or making them out to be the evil Empire, just saying that it’s a slightly out there experience and trend compared to the two other major American sports with black athletes.
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I would agree with probably 99% of that. Where I would disagree is location, location location. Like I said before I've been to a ton of games here in California & those things are more rare or at least its been my experience traveling to other ball parks
. I've actually worked at PacBell & have 1st handedly had people removed for saying such things but that was once in over 3 years. While in Boston (not to pick on just this city but by far the biggest offender that I've seen) I heard the N word at least 50 times in a single game. I felt extremely uncomfortable so I never went back. (players don't get that option)
I've actually had a conversation with Jeffrey Leonard & more recently Justin Upton on race in baseball. The short version is there are a lot of reasons why African American players #'s have dropped in MLB over the years. I believe the # 1 reason is $$$. If you want to call it systemic racism then sure you might be on to something.
 
TheDuke said:
I'm no expert.
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Fact
TheDuke said:
And baseball players aren't athletes.
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But basketball players must be:


View attachment 1107551

1679957752670.gif
 
TheRealTeddyKGB said:
Nothing is more funny than watching an NBA guy trying to throw a baseball! Except for .maybe 50cent
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IKR - lol.

I’ve found most people that say Baseball players aren’t athletes have either never thrown/hit a baseball or are mad because they can’t - lol.

Throwing and hitting is an orchestrated symphony of every muscle in your body. Doing it well, is natural ability + thousands of hours of practice.
 
I played little league for a few years, in Lexington MA (74-76 - was a huge Red Sox fan - and 77-78 in Alexandria VA). I was consistently one of the hardest chuckers every year but couldn't hit for spit - best hit of my "career" still landed in FRONT of the opposing team's centerfielder (haha smh) and I still remember the night I gave up 10 runs in one inning :eek: . Favorite player has always been Nolan Ryan but what Ohtani has been doing absolutely blows my mind!

That being said, I don't like watching baseball live (unless it's just playing in the background while we're playing poker, ha) - I'd rather be outside playing over the line with friends.

I do enjoy watching highlights and/or bloopers from time to time and some of my favorite movies are baseball related.

I think there is a pretty big difference between participating in an activity that requires skill/athleticism or conditioning and one where opponents are actively/physically trying to prevent you from accomplishing a goal (or especially, knock you out!). I also used to swim competitively through high school and we used to joke that swimming from one side to the other as fast as you can doesn't really compare to swimming where someone else is trying to drown you (i.e. water polo)... :D
 
TheRealTeddyKGB said:
I would agree with probably 99% of that. Where I would disagree is location, location location. Like I said before I've been to a ton of games here in California & those things are more rare or at least its been my experience traveling to other ball parks
. I've actually worked at PacBell & have 1st handedly had people removed for saying such things but that was once in over 3 years. While in Boston (not to pick on just this city but by far the biggest offender that I've seen) I heard the N word at least 50 times in a single game. I felt extremely uncomfortable so I never went back. (players don't get that option)
I've actually had a conversation with Jeffrey Leonard & more recently Justin Upton on race in baseball. The short version is there are a lot of reasons why African American players #'s have dropped in MLB over the years. I believe the # 1 reason is $$$. If you want to call it systemic racism then sure you might be on to something.
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However you want to put it, MLB has a problem. I don’t quite get the money being the primary driver, but let’s say it is. Great, lol that doesn’t mean the MLB doesn’t have a huge ongoing issue with the treatment or support of their African American players.

When a population that makes up 1/5 of your players drops to under 1/10 and the majority willing to speak up speak to being uncomfortable at the highest level, you have a problem.

I also would agree that naturally the offenses will vary by location, although I don’t see why that matters.

I dare someone to call Westbrook a spook or Nig*** while he’s playing the Celtics. Let them be 10 rows deep. Play will immediately stop. That game is not continuing until they are on the way out of the stadium.

Again I’m not saying it like it’s all fans at every game.

I’m stating there is a CLEAR difference in handling of racist incidents, there is a CLEAR difference in comfortability by players being attacked and how they should respond, there is a CLEAR difference in how the less represented players are treated in MLB vs NBA/NFL.

And again, I’m not saying just MLB has an issue, of course it’s everywhere. Sports fans have to be blind to not see institutional racism. We’re still testing NFL and NBA players for pot…..yet MLB doesn’t test for thc ands hockey players have full pain drug docs on hand, don’t test for weed, and even if you do test positive for hard drugs (non PEDs), you get counseling . Pretty obvious as to the differences….

MLB fight? It’s “part of the game”. Hockey fights? It’s “part of the game”. NFL and NBA, uncalled for, thugs. Pretty obvious as to the differences….

Whether it’s coverage of sports, implementation of rules, treatment of players/fans, etc., it will always be difficult to completely separate racism from American sports in general. The MLB just has the largest issue regarding that topic imo.
 
As a Father of two boys who play football and travel baseball I’m convinced more than ever football is the greatest sport ever invented. That’s said I have learned to appreciate baseball much more watching my boys. It is a very much a thinking persons sport having to preemptively account for multiple scenarios at any time. It also required tremendous coordination at a moment’s notice. But football is the ultimate team sport and at the higher levels like a chess match.
 
Let's bring it back to what this post is all about. Why baseball is the best sport on the planet: tonight the Giants bring back Sergio Romo one last time. Thanks for all the memories Mr. Romo!
 
TheRealTeddyKGB said:
Let's bring it back to what this post is all about. Why baseball is the best sport on the planet:
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It may be the best sport in USA (and even that is highly debatable), but to include the entire planet is pretty much of a stretch (and kind of arrogant if you think about it).

Baseball hardly rates a mention in the other 90% of the planet. Soccer (the real football) players are true athletes, on the run for virtually the entire 90 minutes (plus added time). Hockey, rugby, the other football, basketball, downhill skiing, hell, even figure skaters are better athletes.

MLB? Meh...
 
BarrieJ3 said:
However you want to put it, MLB has a problem. I don’t quite get the money being the primary driver, but let’s say it is. Great, lol that doesn’t mean the MLB doesn’t have a huge ongoing issue with the treatment or support of their African American players.

When a population that makes up 1/5 of your players drops to under 1/10 and the majority willing to speak up speak to being uncomfortable at the highest level, you have a problem.

I also would agree that naturally the offenses will vary by location, although I don’t see why that matters.

I dare someone to call Westbrook a spook or Nig*** while he’s playing the Celtics. Let them be 10 rows deep. Play will immediately stop. That game is not continuing until they are on the way out of the stadium.

Again I’m not saying it like it’s all fans at every game.

I’m stating there is a CLEAR difference in handling of racist incidents, there is a CLEAR difference in comfortability by players being attacked and how they should respond, there is a CLEAR difference in how the less represented players are treated in MLB vs NBA/NFL.

And again, I’m not saying just MLB has an issue, of course it’s everywhere. Sports fans have to be blind to not see institutional racism. We’re still testing NFL and NBA players for pot…..yet MLB doesn’t test for thc ands hockey players have full pain drug docs on hand, don’t test for weed, and even if you do test positive for hard drugs (non PEDs), you get counseling . Pretty obvious as to the differences….

MLB fight? It’s “part of the game”. Hockey fights? It’s “part of the game”. NFL and NBA, uncalled for, thugs. Pretty obvious as to the differences….

Whether it’s coverage of sports, implementation of rules, treatment of players/fans, etc., it will always be difficult to completely separate racism from American sports in general. The MLB just has the largest issue regarding that topic imo.
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You might be 100% right but I don't think that's the biggest reason why. Baseball is VERY expensive like swimming. I know a lot about both. Access to facilities, wage disparities & recruitment/retention are all larger problems. You touched on another when you brought up the almost all white minor league infrastructure.

I strongly feel these are very important topics to discuss but in the spirit of this thread I dont feel like this is the right place. Maybe "why baseball isn't the best sport in the world?"
 
TheRealTeddyKGB said:
I strongly feel these are very important topics to discuss but in the spirit of this thread I dont feel like this is the right place. Maybe "why baseball isn't the best sport in the world?"
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Ok, so we're only allowed to talk about how wonderful baseball is in this thread, and not why it isn't the greatest thing in sporting history? Hardly seems like a discussion...
 
LotsOfChips said:
Ok, so we're only allowed to talk about how wonderful baseball is in this thread, and not why it isn't the greatest thing in sporting history? Hardly seems like a discussion...
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Go crazy. I'm not here to say what you can or cannot say. If you read everything I said I'm currently going thru a divorce of baseball for many reasons. To me this seemed like a positive thread of "why it was the best sport in the world" not why it wasn't so basically I was just saying I personally was done with that part of the discussion. Me & @BarrieJ3 have mutual friends & I look forward to discussing this further with him.
 
Old State said:
As a Father of two boys who play football and travel baseball I’m convinced more than ever football is the greatest sport ever invented. That’s said I have learned to appreciate baseball much more watching my boys. It is a very much a thinking persons sport having to preemptively account for multiple scenarios at any time. It also required tremendous coordination at a moment’s notice. But football is the ultimate team sport and at the higher levels like a chess match.
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Problem with football is I don’t think I’ve made it through a regular season NFL game in ~4 years. 40 min of 25 second plays, 200 minutes of commercials/timeouts.

I used to love watching football, was a Redskins season ticket holder for years (yeah, yeah - I know they suck - lol).

I just can’t watch it anymore, not b/c I don’t like football, but I fricken hate commercials. It’s even bad live - everyone just stands around for 200 minutes for the commercial time outs - lol.
 
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BarrieJ3 said:
However you want to put it, MLB has a problem. I don’t quite get the money being the primary driver, but let’s say it is. Great, lol that doesn’t mean the MLB doesn’t have a huge ongoing issue with the treatment or support of their African American players.

When a population that makes up 1/5 of your players drops to under 1/10 and the majority willing to speak up speak to being uncomfortable at the highest level, you have a problem.

I also would agree that naturally the offenses will vary by location, although I don’t see why that matters.

I dare someone to call Westbrook a spook or Nig*** while he’s playing the Celtics. Let them be 10 rows deep. Play will immediately stop. That game is not continuing until they are on the way out of the stadium.

Again I’m not saying it like it’s all fans at every game.

I’m stating there is a CLEAR difference in handling of racist incidents, there is a CLEAR difference in comfortability by players being attacked and how they should respond, there is a CLEAR difference in how the less represented players are treated in MLB vs NBA/NFL.

And again, I’m not saying just MLB has an issue, of course it’s everywhere. Sports fans have to be blind to not see institutional racism. We’re still testing NFL and NBA players for pot…..yet MLB doesn’t test for thc ands hockey players have full pain drug docs on hand, don’t test for weed, and even if you do test positive for hard drugs (non PEDs), you get counseling . Pretty obvious as to the differences….

MLB fight? It’s “part of the game”. Hockey fights? It’s “part of the game”. NFL and NBA, uncalled for, thugs. Pretty obvious as to the differences….

Whether it’s coverage of sports, implementation of rules, treatment of players/fans, etc., it will always be difficult to completely separate racism from American sports in general. The MLB just has the largest issue regarding that topic imo.
Click to expand...
You’re right that some sports and some cities haven’t done a great job of controlling their fans. I’m a Red Sox fan; I know. And I’m not downplaying that.
But youth sports has become an industry that makes me puke. And I believe that is a huge contributing factor in the drop in African american representation in MLB. It’s a socioeconomic thing. Kids with money go to camps and expensive club teams from a very young age. That will create a gap in any sport, but I think it’s magnified with baseball a sport where mechanics are so important, and usually only mastered by years of coaching and reps. Combine that with the fact that kids know a big paycheck in basketball or football can come a lot quicker than the minor league path to the majors that exists in baseball and I think you end up with a lot of black American kids ending up on different paths than baseball.
Is that racism? If it’s a socioeconomic thing and one race is socioeconomicly disadvantaged, then yes of course it is. But I’m not sure how fair it is to label baseball or MLB as racist because of greater societal issues.
I think you’ve made some good points. But I also don’t believe that the fact that there are fewer black Americans in MLB now than maybe any other point in my life is because baseball is racist.
 
louBdub said:
Baseball is a game.

Doesn’t qualify as a sport.

And it’s a dumb game. Very very dumb.
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Moronic take. Try to hit a round ball going 90mph with movement with a round bat from 60’ away. It’s the hardest thing to do in sports.

Throw a baseball 85mph 100 times over 2 hours and tell me it’s not a sport. I’d make you write it down but you won’t be able to life your arms.
 
bergs said:
Moronic take. Try to hit a round ball going 90mph with movement with a round bat from 60’ away. It’s the hardest thing to do in sports.

Throw a baseball 85mph 100 times over 2 hours and tell me it’s not a sport. I’d make you write it down but you won’t be able to life your arms.
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So difficult task=sport?
 
Eriks said:
So difficult task=sport?
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How moronic is this argument? In this context, yes. Even after you hit the ball, you still need the athleticism to run that 90 feet to first base in like 4 seconds. And to even have that opportunity you still need to be able to field and throw. This is so dumb.
 
upNdown said:
How moronic is this argument? In this context, yes. Even after you hit the ball, you still need the athleticism to run that 90 feet to first base in like 4 seconds. And to even have that opportunity you still need to be able to field and throw. This is so dumb.
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It’s not an argument, it’s a question. Granted, I know very little about this silly little ”sport” but the fact that one can look like the dude I posted and still compete at the world (lol) series raises some questions.

I’m not saying he’s not good or that hitting a ball is not difficult btw. Only questioning whether that should be considered a sport or not.
 

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