Cricketers convert into baseball players

[Howe_zat]

Rangana Herath is probably about as good as baseball as he is at football / showjumping / space travel

 

[slippy888]

Rangana Herath is probably about as good as baseball as he is at football / showjumping / space travel

What is he a pitcher

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

What is he a pitcher

Bartolo Colon aka 'Big ***y', 45 years old, currently a free agent:

 

[Second Spitter]

I don't really get what you're trying to say here. It's obvious that they are different sports, if that's your point. No one's claiming they are the exact same.

But the skill sets have more overlap than most random 2 sports you were to compare.

More than the skill sets of .....

Judo and taekwondo?

Swimming and Water Polo?

Hammer and discus?


Because this is the level commonality the two sports have and you cannot produce a shred of evidence to the contrary.

 

[Daemon]

I daresay most water polo players would destroy professional cricketers in 100m freestyle

Similarly most cricketers would laugh their way to the mercy rule against a bunch of swimmers in the diamond

That’s the only point anyone’s trying to make tbh

 

[Howe_zat]

The swimmers would probably have as good a chance at finding a pitcher as the cricketers imo. Bowling and pitching look completely different to me.

Fielding is very similar obviously. Baseball batting relies on a different technique but still requires the same hand-eye coordination and power as one day batting. Can't see it for pitching though.

 

[Daemon]

The swimmers would probably have as good a chance at finding a pitcher as the cricketers imo. Bowling and pitching look completely different to me.

Fielding is very similar obviously. Baseball batting relies on a different technique but still requires the same hand-eye coordination and power as one day batting. Can't see it for pitching though.

Disagree entirely. This is anecdotal but when I first played baseball in uni I could pitch, bat and field far better than everyone who was new to the sport.

The toughest part was knowing where to throw the damn thing after fielding it.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Disagree entirely. This is anecdotal but when I first played baseball in uni I could pitch, bat and field far better than everyone who was new to the sport.

The toughest part was knowing where to throw the damn thing after fielding it.

Were you an outfielder?

Throw to the shortstop or the first baseman. It's easier to know if any runners on base or not, that way you will know where to throw.

 

[stephen]

Disagree entirely. This is anecdotal but when I first played baseball in uni I could pitch, bat and field far better than everyone who was new to the sport.

The toughest part was knowing where to throw the damn thing after fielding it.

Yep that was hardest for me too. The sport isn't overly complicated at low levels, but knowing where to throw the ball is probably the most unnatural skill. Learning how to catch is remarkably simple with a glove and gets you into some good habits for cricket (catching the ball in front of your eye line instead of in front of your body).

 

[Daemon]

Were you an outfielder?

Throw to the shortstop or the first baseman. It's easier to know if any runners on base or not, that way you will know where to throw.

Nope, I usually played 2nd or short stop. When confused I'd just throw to 1st lel. Missed a couple of double plays because of that.

Yep that was hardest for me too. The sport isn't overly complicated at low levels, but knowing where to throw the ball is probably the most unnatural skill.

Indeed. Requires more awareness than fielding in cricket imo.

 

[JBMAC]

Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Paul Sheehan, Ian Redpath all played top level baseball in Australia. When Bradman's side toured th USA, he and Babe Ruth I believe had a batting match with Bradman the better exponent

 

[Daemon]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/06/the-spin-cricket-baseball-bradman-babe-ruth

Ruth is supposed to have told Bradman: "I'll try this cricket business. Maybe it's my game." Ruth did, eventually. He came to England in the winter of 1935, and played a little cricket when he was in London. He struggled while he was taking an orthodox guard, so he switched back to his baseball stance and started walloping some net-bowlers to all parts. "Sure I could smack the ball alright," he told the press afterwards. "How could I help it when you have a great wide board to swing?" All the same the game, Ruth decided, wasn't for him, just because "they tell me $40 a week is top pay for cricket".

As for Bradman, he never did play ball. A few of his team-mates did, though, back in the days when it was a winter sport in Australia. Neil Harvey played Grade A baseball, as did, later on, Norm O'Neill, Bill Lawry, and all three Chappell brothers. In Australia there has been at least a little cross-pollination between the two sports. That hasn't been possible in England, though some have dabbled. Ian Pont had a trial with the Philadelphia Phillies back in 1987. "I am doing it purely for the money," he said at the time. He didn't make much. Ed Smith wrote an entire book, Playing Hard Ball, about his try-outs with the New York Mets during their pre-season training in 2001.