Is it worth trying to get into baseball?

[GIMH]

Well? Is it?

 

[social]

To play? Yes

Watching not so much as it’s basically slow T20 these days

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

I love the concept of a moving strike-zone. Kinda like how umpires consider how to call a wide in cricket.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

It think it depends if you prefer sports that have a lot of crucial "moments" rather than riveting action. In baseball there could be nothing interesting for 8 innings and then suddenly you've got your top hitter against a reliever with 2-out and a guy on 2nd and he can win it right there.

The World Baseball Classic was one of the best sporting events last year but league play will be quite different. It's a bit like IPL in that there's games pretty much every day so you can quickly get tired of it if especially if your team sucks arse.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Yes.

 

[_Ed_]

I enjoy following the MLB season, but it might be partially because it's often on during winter weekday afternoons in NZ when there's not a whole lot else to watch from my point of view. Each team playing 162 games a year makes it a pretty big time commitment if you want to get more serious.

I do recommend watching the postseason, though. Without fail, it throws up incredible drama every year.

 

[Coronis]

Not until they finally jazz it up.

 

[Ali TT]

I got into baseball a while after visiting Japan nearly 20 years ago. I don't know if it's still the same but every TV in a public space seemed to be showing the MLB, the atmospheres in the grounds for the Japanese league were amazing and they even showed school matches on the TV. Watched MLB for a few years after but slowly lost interest. As said above, the 162 game season is quite a commitment.

 

[Tom Flint]

Baseball is great when on holiday and the hotel room has mainly american TV. Always enjoy watching for an hour while getting ready to go out for the evening.

 

[ripper868]

Do you enjoy a day out at the cricket?

Then yes, you'll enjoy a day at the baseball

 

[nightprowler10]

No.

 

[shortpitched713]

Baseball has roughly as much "density" of events as a game of ODI cricket, but it lasts about half as long. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then it's an interesting take on the classic wood on leather, and certainly could be worth your time.

However, it is massively in favor of ball over bat, so don't feel too disappointed if that absolute ecstasy of a middle of the bat gunshot sounding home run ball doesn't happen as often as you were hoping. There's still a lot to the game besides that, and in particular I think the clockworkesque precision of the fielding on 9/10 plays where the ball is put in the field is an absolute wonder to behold.

So tl;dr, it's definitely worth it as a change of pace, and the MLB playoffs in particular can be particularly exciting. However, I'd say it's a solid step below Test cricket in particular with regards to the variety, and strategic depth the game has to offer.

 

[shortpitched713]

For an example on the lack of variety front, I really wish that knuckleballing could become a regular thing. But unfortunately there's rarely more than 1 starting pitcher in the entire league using that style. So you rarely see too many pitches under 80 mph get thrown in game. Which is sad because 55-75 mph knuckleballs are every bit as effective as a primary pitch as the faster stuff.

Maybe cricket could pick up the slack, as I honestly think a no spin, dancing in the air knuckeball could be the ultimate death overs ODI or T20 delivery, once mastered.

 

[kyear2]

I can only manage the world series, the AL / NL CS at most.

Regular season is too long and tedious

 

[ripper868]

This was pretty damn cool.
Both players considered top of their profession (Ohtani with bat and ball tbf) - they play(ed) for the same MLB club, and this out is to decide the World Championship (not World Series, but an actual nation vs nation competition).

worth the 5 minutes tbh.

 

[Uppercut]

It’s a good sport, but UK time zones make it hard to get really into.

Definitely go to a game if you get the chance in the US. Though tbf I think I’d say that about all live sport.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

For an example on the lack of variety front, I really wish that knuckleballing could become a regular thing. But unfortunately there's rarely more than 1 starting pitcher in the entire league using that style. So you rarely see too many pitches under 80 mph get thrown in game. Which is sad because 55-75 mph knuckleballs are every bit as effective as a primary pitch as the faster stuff.

Maybe cricket could pick up the slack, as I honestly think a no spin, dancing in the air knuckeball could be the ultimate death overs ODI or T20 delivery, once mastered.

The main problem is that if you **** up your knuckleball you're gonna get smashed because it's so slow, rather than just being fouled off. You'd also need a gun catcher because the ball path is basically wizardry and you can't fully control it. It takes ages to learn the thing with no guarantee that you can even make the majors, as opposed to throwing heat with high spin rate until your arm falls off.

 

[Son Of Coco]

No

 

[Pant Kameez]

A baseball is less than 3 inches in diameter I doubt your rotund body can get into it.

 

[shortpitched713]

The main problem is that if you **** up your knuckleball you're gonna get smashed because it's so slow, rather than just being fouled off. You'd also need a gun catcher because the ball path is basically wizardry and you can't fully control it. It takes ages to learn the thing with no guarantee that you can even make the majors, as opposed to throwing heat with high spin rate until your arm falls off.

None of these young prospects are guaranteed to make it, regardless of approach.

Scouts and managers just really aren't looking for good knuckleballers, until one falls into their lap. It's something of an inefficiency in the sport imo, because there are upsides to fielding one or more knuckleball pitchers in your side, as it's a style which is not as hard on the arm. It could help counter the current attritional trend in baseball pitching as well.