Comments on: Baseball Been Berry Berry Boring To Me

By: NFL Fanatic

NFL Fanatic — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:44:44 +0000

Hey Mike G, how many times have you heard an NFL or NBA star who took up the sport in College or High school? Never having played the sport at all. Case in point? Amobe Okoye, had’nt even heard of football till he entered High School, he’s 19 and slated to be a top 10 pick in the draft! You know why guys can excell so quickly? Cause these sports take advantage of skills you ALREADY have, not force you to practice from 5 yo. And what ius there to be competitive about n the backyard? “Hey i got better hand eye coordination than you?” Notice i did say unhorganized, as opossed to organized? Cause where does the passion begin? You ask any clear thinking baseball pundit today and they’ll tell you if baseball was just getting a start in this times, it would be worst off than Hockey.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:37:37 +0000

Why pick up a baseball when you can become pro in basketball or football which takes better use of physical ability?

Its just common sense

Its nothing to do with social issues, race, daddy problems.

By: Mike G.

Mike G. — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:52:33 +0000

Hey NFL Fanatic,

Learn some simple grammar and spelling, bro. I couldn’t even get through your diatribe, dude.

Eh, I shouldn’t have even bothered to respond, but I guess I am. First, how is baseball not competitive? Trying to strike out your buddy, or trying to crush one of your buddy is just as rewarding as crossing over someone on the courts. And I don’t even understand the “never played before college” comment. Learning to play the sport when you’re 17 isn’t the easiest thing. Then again, I really don’t even know what you’re talking about.

By: NFL Fanatic

NFL Fanatic — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:57:23 +0000

Hey Mike G,
Get of it dude…How many times have you heard a pro baseball player say they nevewr played baseball before college or high school even?
Sport is still about competition and fun for kids bro, and baseball is non of these at an unorganized level. It’s just an excuse when baseball pundits point to the lack of black players in MLB as the reason behind the sport losing appeal. It’s jnot a reason its a symptom. It’s boring. It is not competitive and it does not make use of physical prowess. You can scream hey batta batta all day or insult a guy but as long as you can’t beat a guy straight up physically it just does’nt satisfy in this generation.
Baseball is dying because we just don’t like playing it.

By: James

James — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:42:58 +0000

Great discussion going on here from where I left off earlier today, but for everybody saying you need too many people to play pick-up baseball, I remember when I was a kid we would play 2 on 2 or 3-3 whiffle or stick ball all day plus mix in a little HR derby and it was a blast. I just think most black kids don’t get introduced to those kind of games unless they live in a mostly white neighborhood. Whiffle ball was the shit.

By: Mike G.

Mike G. — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:06:43 +0000

“I disagree Mike..What you’re talkng about with baseball is practice..there no element of competition there.”

True, to an extent. But if you have a third, you can have a catcher, pitcher, and a batter–there’s going to be some competition. Home run derby with a few guys–lots of testosterone and competition. Plus, I was saying pickup bball is a very greedy game. Of the ten players on the court at a time, only 3-5 of those will get touches, and be competitive. The other guys won’t get many touches.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:42:09 +0000

Great discussion topic D. Never hear this kind of stuff in the “media”. At least not with real people discussing real issues and solutions, no canned PR crap. Not bad for a sub. Keep up the good work.

By: Diallo Tyson

Diallo Tyson — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:21:31 +0000

I’m not Bill Simmons?!? All these years my mother lied to me. How could she? All this time, I just thought I tanned easier than the other kids.

I know a lot about accounting, but I’d soon cut off a limb than attend an accounting seminar. Somethings are exciting to me. Some things aren’t.

By: rs27

rs27 — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:19:10 +0000

I disagree Mike..What you’re talkng about with baseball is practice..there no element of competition there. I can play basketball for hours but only do the things you mentioned for basbeall for a half hour with out getting bored (and I grew up doing all those baseball things) . You’re talking about repetition with baseball. In pick-up games I may not shoot much but its still a game with a winner.

By: Mike G.

Mike G. — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:22:20 +0000

I’m not sure where my comment I submitted before went, but I’ll say it again. The whole “you need more people to play baseball” argument is a joke.

The link is to my personal blog about my feeling about that argument:

“You can just as easily play baseball with two people, just give me a tennis ball, a broomstick, and a 12 year old arm that allows me to chuck that tennis ball against a wall for 200+ pitches. With a real baseball, gloves, and a bat, you can hit grounders to each other. You can soft toss. You can throw BP to each other. You can pitch and catch to each other. For those who say, “well that’s not really a game, though” I say, “are pickup games at the local playground really basketball?” Of course not. Sure you can run a full court 5-on-5 game at any court in America, but it’s not ‘real’ basketball. Everyone’s looking to take their own shot; there’s the guy who just jacks up threes, there’s the guy who thinks he can bang like Shaq down low, and there’s the kid who think he’s as good a ball handler as Hot Sauce. The game’s have no defense, no organized offense, there’s traveling, there’s carries, and there are no offensive fouls.”