I'm currently trying to watch Baseball.

[Bwian]

A popular misconception, it's named after the World newspaper - the original sponser!

That is also possibly a misconception.

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/873-world-series-origin.html

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp

 

[johnhammond]

The end of that Tigers-A's game was pretty exciting. Thought compared to the Mariners this year, anything is pretty exciting...

 

[AZ Gull]

Not for the first time this season, I'm watching a Baseball match, because I'm a Nat'nals fan, well I am now, it's a bit like being a Man City fan from anywhere other than Manchester.

Any hoo the thing is, it's a bit boring and dull.

They moan about cricket '5 days and it's a draw' 'the only sport that stops for tea', but blimey charlie at least in cricket they hit the ball, and it's not like every time that happens the ball is caught.

I'm really struggling here.

Stick with it, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. Let's face it, plenty of football matches can be boring and dull, especially if you don't know much about the players or teams and aren't emotionally involved. There's always something going on when you start to get into baseball; the battle between the pitcher and the batter; base-stealing and running; the strategy between opposing managers later in a game when you start to get relief pitchers coming in and pinch-hitters.

The game you just watched was pretty much done by the 2nd inning (like a football team taking a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes). If you continue to watch the play-offs, I'm sure there will be some great matches. I've only just watched brief highlights of the Yankees-Orioles game, but it seemed like a cracker; a 40-year-old was brought in to hit as a "sub" for one of the greatest all-round players ever (and highest paid), Alex Rodriguez, and he hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th; he then homered again in the 12th (the equivalent of extra-time) to win it for the Yankees.

As an aside, here in Arizona in March we have spring training (the equivalent of pre-season, except half the teams go to AZ and half go to Florida). The teams play each other multiple times as they get ready for the season, and trim their rosters. Going to spring training games is a highlight of the year; fantastic weather, beers, plenty of attractive young ladies etc. If you are ever in the States around that time you need to get to a couple of games.

Enjoy the rest of the play-offs.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

I like it, even though team I follow (Boston) are dogshit on toast these. Conversely I can't see the point of cricket. Hitting a ball with a bat that big looks a piece of piss. Might as well play football with goals the width of the pitch.

Didn't Ian Botham play for a team over there expecting it to be easy? I think he returned quickly and quietly.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Stick with it, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. Let's face it, plenty of football matches can be boring and dull, especially if you don't know much about the players or teams and aren't emotionally involved. There's always something going on when you start to get into baseball; the battle between the pitcher and the batter; base-stealing and running; the strategy between opposing managers later in a game when you start to get relief pitchers coming in and pinch-hitters.

The game you just watched was pretty much done by the 2nd inning (like a football team taking a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes). If you continue to watch the play-offs, I'm sure there will be some great matches. I've only just watched brief highlights of the Yankees-Orioles game, but it seemed like a cracker; a 40-year-old was brought in to hit as a "sub" for one of the greatest all-round players ever (and highest paid), Alex Rodriguez, and he hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th; he then homered again in the 12th (the equivalent of extra-time) to win it for the Yankees.

As an aside, here in Arizona in March we have spring training (the equivalent of pre-season, except half the teams go to AZ and half go to Florida). The teams play each other multiple times as they get ready for the season, and trim their rosters. Going to spring training games is a highlight of the year; fantastic weather, beers, plenty of attractive young ladies etc. If you are ever in the States around that time you need to get to a couple of games.

Enjoy the rest of the play-offs.

I'm in :thumbs up:

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

I've been sitting up waaay too late every night watching the play-offs. I think, once you've learned to appreciate good pitching, it's a great game on TV. I've seen my lot (the Mets - just don't...), or at least their triple A team, live at the Oval a decade or so ago, and it's considerably less engaging because you can't see what's happening with the pitches as clearly.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I'm watching a Baseball match, because I'm a Nat'nals fan, well I am now, .........
I'm really struggling here.

World Champion Cardinals 8-0 Nationals

And for those of you who think baseball is "shit boring", you do know you sound like those twats who describe football as "22 grown men kicking a bag of air around" don't you?

Maybe you should try watching the last 15 minutes of the game in Oakland that finished about 6.30 this morning, and then let me know how "boring" that was?

 

[Simster]

Baseball is a great sport (even for us Blue Jays fans these days)-once you understand it. When I moved to Canada I tried watching baseball for the first summer I was there and I just didn't get it. All the stats being spewed out during the game, not understanding why a hit was a hit, RBI's, slugging percentages, earned runs, the language of the game, etc., etc. Then it clicked and since then I've loved the game. I appreciate what it takes to hit a ball that's coming at you at 95mph, hitting it 400+ feet with a round bat (it ain't easy). Until you understand the game, the tactics employed by managers can get lost on the casual observer. Understand the game and it's a great way to pass 3 hours on a warm summer evening. Beer allowed as you watch the game makes it very civilised too.

I love baseball and the Blue Jays. Mind you, when I started following the game and the Blue Jays in particular, we were World Series champs and chasing a second straight gong, with players like John Olerud chasing a .400 season, and quality players like Joe Carter, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar.

My main problem with the game is that the conferences are tiny, which means that when traditional big hitters like the Yankees and Red Sox are in your conference (as they are for the Blue Jays), your season is f***ed before it starts. For the layman, imagine the Premiership being divided into 4 conferences of 5, with the top 2 in each group qualifying for the knockout stages (play-offs). All teams across all conferences play each other, but in your conference (as, say, an Aston Villa fan), you've got both Man City and Chelsea. That means you could have a stand out season, finish with the third best record in baseball, and still not qualify for the play-offs.

And I don't agree about the people moaning about the game being obsessed with stats. Baseball lends itself to cold statistics better than pretty much any other game I can think of.

 

[Stat Brother]

Maybe you should try watching the last 15 minutes of the game in Oakland that finished about 6.30 this morning, and then let me know how "boring" that was?

But what happened in the 5 hours before that?

I will keep at it, all the time the Nat'nals are competitive and I'm a Tony Kornheiser fan, I don't have much choice.

But blimey charlie a whole game is still a very tough repetitive watch.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Baseball: fun to play, boring to watch!

Basketball: boring to watch, boring to play. In my opinion. All that this thread proves is that some people like things that others don't.

Baseball is my second-favourite sport and I'd happily spend all day watching it, and have done on occasion. Being at a game somewhere like Wrigley Field or Dodger Stadium is great because you experience the excitement of being at a historic venue and appreciate the athleticism and the skill of the fielding as well (and get to eat and drink in the open air all afternoon or evening) but TV gives you a better close-up of the duel between ptcher and hitter.

If you don't like it, fine: I think you're missing something. But some people probably think that about basketball.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

My main problem with the game is that the conferences are tiny, which means that when traditional big hitters like the Yankees and Red Sox are in your conference (as they are for the Blue Jays), your season is f***ed before it starts. For the layman, imagine the Premiership being divided into 4 conferences of 5, with the top 2 in each group qualifying for the knockout stages (play-offs). All teams across all conferences play each other, but in your conference (as, say, an Aston Villa fan), you've got both Man City and Chelsea. That means you could have a stand out season, finish with the third best record in baseball, and still not qualify for the play-offs.

You mean divisions, not conferences. And you're just making excuses for the Jays - the Orioles have proved this season (and the Rays in recent seasons) that the smaller-market teams in the AL East can compete with the Yankees.

 

[Simster]

You mean divisions, not conferences. And you're just making excuses for the Jays - the Orioles have proved this season (and the Rays in recent seasons) that the smaller-market teams in the AL East can compete with the Yankees.

You're joking. The Orioles have been uncompetitive for two decades until now!

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

You're joking. The Orioles have been uncompetitive for two decades until now!

Doesn't that prove my point? Even the Orioles can rise from the dead and challenge the Yanks.

 

[Simster]

Doesn't that prove my point? Even the Orioles can rise from the dead and challenge the Yanks.

Not really. It just proves that one season in 20 or 30, they might have a freak season.

Baseball's issue is much the same as football's. The big teams can buy up all the talent, and the smaller markets never win anything. I guess my point is that at least with football, each team finds it's own level of relative success in a pyramid of nearly 100 teams. In baseball, what is success for the Rays, Mariners, Oriloes or Padres? Probably to finish 2nd out of 5. And for the Orioles and Jays, that is nigh on impossible with the Red Sox and Yanks in the division.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

The got to love the way they refer to it as the world series

It should be pointed out that the World Baseball Classic, the equivalent of a World Cup (started when baseball lost its Olympic status) is a truly international competition. On the two occasions it has been played, the USA has finished no better than fourth despite fielding teams of top Major League players. Losing to Canada was their low point. Japan won both times, beating Cuba and South Korea in the finals.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Not really. It just proves that one season in 20 or 30, they might have a freak season.

Baseball's issue is much the same as football's. The big teams can buy up all the talent, and the smaller markets never win anything. I guess my point is that at least with football, each team finds it's own level of relative success in a pyramid of nearly 100 teams. In baseball, what is success for the Rays, Mariners, Oriloes or Padres? Probably to finish 2nd out of 5. And for the Orioles and Jays, that is nigh on impossible with the Red Sox and Yanks in the division.

But my point is that in baseball, as in the other major US sports, teams can overcome richer opponents (who have to pay a luxury tax to other teams if they overspend the salary cap). The Rays - with the smallest attendances in the AL East - have won the division twice in the past five seasons. And look at the World Series winners over the past decade: Anaheim, Florida, Boston, Chicago White Sox, St Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Yankees, San Francisco, St Louis. Seven different winners in ten seasons - not exactly a case of teams finding their level of relative success. And the runners-up over the same period have included Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Tampa Bay and Texas. Much healthier than, say, the Premier League.

 

[Bwian]

But what happened in the 5 hours before that?

I will keep at it, all the time the Nat'nals are competitive and I'm a Tony Kornheiser fan, I don't have much choice.

But blimey charlie a whole game is still a very tough repetitive watch.

Unfortunately, people who are new to baseball or simply don't understand it do not appreciate a game (often 0-0 going into the 9th inning) between 2 pitchers having great games at the same time. I've been to many low scoring games that are every bit as exciting, yes-exciting at baseball, as high scoring games. In Toronto I've been to games that finished way past midnight, subways had stopped running and the only way home was a night bus but it was always worth staying to the end. Like all sport, if you take the time to try and understand it then it can be enjoyable. Take a blinkered view and it will always be 'shit' (not directed at you).

Interestingly (for me), in the world of cricket, it would appear that its equivalent to baseball (20/20) is bringing new fans to the game whereas the 4 day and test formats were losing popularity. Cricket has clearly learned from somewhere that it needed to do something to bring people in, maybe they looked to baseball for inspiration? People simply don't have 4 or 5 days to watch one game these days.

 

[Simster]

Interestingly (for me), in the world of cricket, it would appear that its equivalent to baseball (20/20) is bringing new fans to the game whereas the 4 day and test formats were losing popularity. Cricket has clearly learned from somewhere that it needed to do something to bring people in, maybe they looked to baseball for inspiration? People simply don't have 4 or 5 days to watch one game these days.

I don't know why people consider that T20 cricket is anything like baseball. It really isn't. In fact, the one major similarity is that a 9-innings baseball game lasts about the same time as a T20 game. This is why T20 is popular, because you can go to a game straight after work and see an entire game with a result in one single evening.

 

[Bwian]

I don't know why people consider that T20 cricket is anything like baseball. It really isn't. In fact, the one major similarity is that a 9-innings baseball game lasts about the same time as a T20 game. This is why T20 is popular, because you can go to a game straight after work and see an entire game with a result in one single evening.

I wasn't saying T20 was anything like baseball other than the points you've mentioned-watch a whole game in the evening after work, etc.. which is why I said "its equivalent".

 

[withdeanwombat]

On one holiday to California I went to see the Dodgers.At first the game is a mystery.It's rounders for statistics buffs,players in pyjamas.After a couple of beers - in my seat as I live and breathe - and a Dodgers dog and the organ playing,Let's all go to the ball game,and the amazing patriotism of the crowd mystery morphs into theatre.None of the old "We're the West Stand etc." It's a piece of total Americana.Now,naturally,I follow the Dodgers (they missed the wild card for the play offs) so I don't care who wins it.....though please,not the Giants.

Yes,I watch it with interest;not avidly,and often on record at double speed (gets rid of the commentary and gets the game moving.)
Would I want to watch 162 games a season ? No.But if I go to the States again I'll definitely go to a game....and I'll even try to learn the "Star Spangled Banner".

The whole thing is pure carnival.