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Cricketers playing major league baseball
- Thread starter slippy
- Start date
Mr Mxyzptlk
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Quality review, especially the summary line. No need to read the book now.
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Swervy's post in this thread: http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/cricket-chat/13500-cricket-baseball.html is interesting. I cannot find a source for the Botham comments though.
pasag
RTDAS
On the contrary I think it was Richard that kept him going
mohammad16
U19 Captain
I played baseball for my high school team and have played a lot of club cricket as well.
I won't really get into the whole pitching and bowling comparison but I can very confidently say that batting in cricket is a lot more about skill and in baseball is just mostly hand eye and natural hitting ability.
Generally speaking, baseball hitters are born while cricketing batsmen can very well be made. At the heart of batting in baseball, 99% of the time you are just trying to make solid contact with the ball in an attempt to send it sailing over the infield. If you lack that natural hand eye and more importantly that ability to hit the ball very far, you will find it extremely difficult to make it as a baseball hitter, but as a cricket player, you can work and develop your technique and skill to straight away notice considerable amounts of progress.
Look at 99% of the hitters in MLB, they are all huge long ball hitters. There is no way a Laxman, or a Dravid could ever dream of playing baseball at a pro level.
Pitching in baseball is a different ball game and does require quite a bit more skill.
Batting in cricket is more of an art form, a lot more complex, but at the end of the day, hitting a home run is one of sickest feelings ever. Id much prefer dancing down the track and freeing my arms though.
Id suspect, Afridi, Dhoni and Jayasuriya would make a real smooth and easy transition into baseball.
I won't really get into the whole pitching and bowling comparison but I can very confidently say that batting in cricket is a lot more about skill and in baseball is just mostly hand eye and natural hitting ability.
Generally speaking, baseball hitters are born while cricketing batsmen can very well be made. At the heart of batting in baseball, 99% of the time you are just trying to make solid contact with the ball in an attempt to send it sailing over the infield. If you lack that natural hand eye and more importantly that ability to hit the ball very far, you will find it extremely difficult to make it as a baseball hitter, but as a cricket player, you can work and develop your technique and skill to straight away notice considerable amounts of progress.
Look at 99% of the hitters in MLB, they are all huge long ball hitters. There is no way a Laxman, or a Dravid could ever dream of playing baseball at a pro level.
Pitching in baseball is a different ball game and does require quite a bit more skill.
Batting in cricket is more of an art form, a lot more complex, but at the end of the day, hitting a home run is one of sickest feelings ever. Id much prefer dancing down the track and freeing my arms though.
Id suspect, Afridi, Dhoni and Jayasuriya would make a real smooth and easy transition into baseball.
marc71178
Eyes not spreadsheets
Maybe Aussie killed him?
Matt79
Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, Ponsford was apparently a good baseball player. All the more remarkable given he was red-green colour blind.
I also remember reading that Stan McCabe once tried his hand at baseball during an exhibition tour in the States and impressed scouts to the point that they enquired as to his availability to come try out for the majors. Afterwards he noted that hitting was easy because 'they were all bloody full tosses'. That obviously doesn't suggest he'd had carved a successful career in MLB.
I also remember reading that Stan McCabe once tried his hand at baseball during an exhibition tour in the States and impressed scouts to the point that they enquired as to his availability to come try out for the majors. Afterwards he noted that hitting was easy because 'they were all bloody full tosses'. That obviously doesn't suggest he'd had carved a successful career in MLB.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Swervy has disappeared from CW many times - some of them lengthy - and has always thus far reappeared.On the contrary I think it was Richard that kept him going
What Gelman says is actually true as well, even he's backhandedly admitted it before now - he does have a liking for coming to CW on the basis of my posts, and almost irrefutably (though he's never, quite, admitted this in so many words) has a liking for arguing with me.
What's more, he by-and-large manages to do so in a civil way, even though often on the borderline of civility-uncivility.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
I'm almost the other way around. I'm familiar with Pont as one of the most highly-regarded pace-bowling technician coaches, but hadn't heard he was such a self-promotion lover.
Mr Mxyzptlk
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You say it like it's an easy thing.
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
It's not, but it is more of a natural ability than cricket, which takes a lot more technique to be successful. Baseball is much more "you either got it or you ain't".
vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
Hayden and Symonds would be the two obvious ones. Their fielding arms were super strong, with a real baseball technique about them. Had the body size to hit the ball large too.
Swervy
International Captain
slugger
State Vice-Captain
Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
I very much doubt they could adapt. For a start you have to hit the ball with a slight under cut to it so that it carries a long way if you want to hit a home run.
Also it helps if you are a strong for baseball to get the distance into the hit. Timing will not necessarily do it for you by itself.
Cricketers would also have to get used to standing in the batters box with only a helmet on. No pads.
Cricketers would also have no idea of how to hit a curve ball into right field - and all of these skills learned over years of play.
It would take years to make the transition and unless you did it as a youth I think it would be a fruitless quest.
slugger
State Vice-Captain
If you cant hit it out of the park you are really not worth much to the game and thats what bothers me most about baseball. I reckon if they played with a flat bat alone it would generate alot more appraoches to batting rather than the basic heave ho.. thats what the game lacks in the batting department its just to much orientated to the "Pop Eye" type guy.