Okay, seriously — why is baseball 'boring'?

[Oeditpus Rex]

We frequently hear fans of football and other sports say this, and I just don't get it. Why do you find baseball boring? What do you think it's missing that "your" sport has?

Let's keep the snark to a minimum, k? Thanks.

[Random_Australian]

1. Plain not my thing. Too repetitive. I like cricket.

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. I really want to see a cricket match

with someone who understands it and can explain it to me. :crazy:

I know who the bowler is, and I know what "out LBW" means, but that's about it. I have no clue about stuff like this:

Good afternoon and welcome to Lords on the second day of the first test. So far today we've had five hours batting from England and already they're nought for nought. Cowdrey is not out nought. Naughton is not in. Knott is in and is nought for not out. Naughton of Northants got a nasty knock on the nut in the nets last night but it's nothing of note. Next in is Nat Newton of Notts. Not Nutring - Nutting's at nine, er, Nutring knocked neatie nighty knock knock... anyway England have played extremely well for nothing, not a sausage, in reply to Iceland's first innings total of 722 for 2 declared, scored yesterday disappointingly fast in only twenty-one overs with lots of wild slogging and boundaries and all sorts of rubbishy things. But the main thing is that England have made an absolutely outstanding start so far, Peter?

:shrug:

[burythehatchet]

104. if one enjoys cricket, it is likely to enjoy baseball as well

in my personal experience

[Random_Australian]

105. likely = statistic. This = me.

I answered a thread entitled 'people who don't like baseball' for good reason. I find it as boring as golf.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

2. I freakin' love it

'Nuff said.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. Your momma didn't raise no dummies

:toast:

[LadyoftheRabbits]

4. She sure didn't

:thumbsup: :hi: :toast:

[lizziegrace]

28. G'head Lelapin

Tell him why we take binoculars to the games. :evilgrin:

[LadyoftheRabbits]

58. Hey!

They work out... really well. :eyes: :P

[Haole Girl]

5. Well, as you know, I have a newly found fascination with the

whole statistics thing. While doing research on no-hitters, a light bulb went off, and I realized it's all in the numbers! As far as actually watching a sport for entertainment, I love soccer because it is fast-paced, and takes a lot of endurance (two 45 minute sets of non-stop running). Don't get me wrong, a lot of baseball players are very fit, but I'm not sure they could run that much if their lives depended on it.

I'm trying not to be harsh! :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. Baseball players are probably the least-conditioned

of athletes in "major" sports. The game just doesn't require any special strength, endurance or anything. There're plenty of overweight baseball players.

[_testify_]

35. That's true.

However, it's also a sport that is so difficult (hitting, at least) that a failure rate of 70% is considered not only acceptable, but worth millions of dollars per year.

The best thing about baseball is everyone gets 27 outs. You can't run out the clock.

(And I'd put hockey players against soccer players any day in an endurance test.)

[petronius]

6. I can offer some ideas, with the caveat that I don't actually

dislike baseball, it just happens not to be one of my favorite sports.

One thing that I tend not to like in sports are when the teams are doing different things at different times; in hockey, for example, both teams are playing offense and defense simultaneously, whereas in baseball the defensive team can't score at all.

I also tend to dislike it when a game repeatedly stops and resets between plays - I prefer continuous action.

Thirdly, it seems to me that there is too much of an emphasis on statistics and 'playing the numbers' in baseball.

Finally, as a contrarian, I feel like I've heard too much of the George Will BS about how baseball is at the center of American life - I pretty much always reject anything that I'm told I should like.

It also seems like the season is too long; I get a little burnt out and it seems as though half the season doesn't matter (kind of like the first 45 minutes of an NBA game).

Anyway, those are the first things to come to mind, and I note that many of them apply to sports that I like better than baseball, so perhaps it's all just irrational preference and childhood conditioning after all. In favor of baseball, I will say that as an LSU grad there are few experiences that can top a sultry May evening at 'The Box', watching the Tigers start another run toward Omaha...

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. Some good points; thank you

I'd argue, though, that in few sports (that is, none that I can think of) do teams play offense and defense simultaneously. Rather, in sports such as hockey, soccer and basketball, players' roles may abruptly switch from one to the other.

The separate offense and defense is something I've always appreciated in baseball as it requires players to be multi-faceted and yet part of the same team. The same holds in other sports, but you also find many players — particularly in basketball — with unbalanced skills. (Come to think of it, does anybody in the NBA play defense anymore?) This is also true of baseball, but it's less common. Catchers, shortstops and second basemen can get away with lesser batting skills if they excel on defense, but that's about it. Everyone else has to hit his way into the lineup — except pitchers, of course.

As for stops and starts — well, one typically hears "Baseball is boring" from football fans, yet I can think of no sport with more stops and starts than football. In addition, nothing happens during the 30 seconds between plays in a football game, but much happens between pitches in baseball, if you know what to look for.

I can't argue the over-emphasis on stats nor the "poetry" of baseball espoused by George Will et al. I happen to agree with the latter, but I can understand how others wouldn't. It can come off a bit like proselytizing, I admit.

And, yeah, the season is rather long now. I liked it better when there were 20 teams and the World Series ended around Oct. 10. Baseball should not be played when there's snow on the ground, IMHO.

How long have you been an LSU fan? I met Will Clark during his three months in the minor leagues after the Giants drafted him.

[petronius]

22. You're correct that offense and defense are never exactly

simultaneous (except in roller derby, perhaps?), but what I meant was what you said - the flow of play can change direction instantaneously. Another way to look at it is that, in hockey or soccer, for example, both teams are on the playing surface at the same time with the same goal - to put the puck/ball in the net. The difference between being on offence or defence is less distinct. You do make a point that I've never thought of wrt to hiding deficiencies: in baseball, every player has to stand up there all alone and face the pitching, which I'd agree lends a balance that can be lacking elsewhere. (Basketball is just getting ridiculous... Being tall and not a jumper I've always had basketball pretty low on my sports hierarchy, but even I can see that it's pretty much a flashy scoring-skills competition. Women's college ball I think has avoided this trap, but I'll pass on the rest.)

Football is hard to explain - there is probably less actual game play in 3 hours of a football game than in the same period of baseball, but for some reason the gaps are less bothersome. Going out on a limb, perhaps it's due to the more 'primitive' nature of football; the spaces between plays are imbued with the sort of excitement that permeates a plaground as all the children gather around two kids who are about to fight?

As for LSU, I started there in 97, so I missed the Will Clark era. I did get to enjoy the 2000 6-5 victory over Stanford (albeit not in person), which was doubly sweet considering my undergrad school was Cal!

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. Interesting point

There's a bit more action in a football game — about half an hour, as opposed to about 20 minutes in nine innings of baseball. But I think I know what you mean. Breaks in football tend to build anticipation, whereas in baseball they often just prolong the game — perhaps because in football the spectator has a better idea of what's liable to happen next. Often in baseball, pitch after pitch builds to a ground ball or pop-up. There's a lot of anti-climax.

So I'll grant this: Baseball doesn't hold one's attention as well as some other sports, but perhaps that's part of what we like about it. It's a leisurely game, made for lazy afternoons punctuated by moments of excitement.

And I'm starting to sound like George Will, so I'm gonna STFU. :blush:

[jpgray]

7. Because I don't understand the nuances of it

:patriot:

[elocs]

9. That's exactly it.

To be a true baseball fan you need to have an understanding of the statistics of the game and an appreciation of their significance. You also need to have an appreciation for the strategy of the game and the thinking that goes into it. Without these things, a 1-0 game where the losing pitcher has thrown a no hitter would be plain boring. Or you have a World Series game where Johnny Bench is at bat for the Reds and has 2 strikes while Joe Morgan is on first base. Morgan steals second base, so the A's decide to intentionally walk Bench to first base. The catcher moves out and the pitcher lobs the ball to him for ball 3. Next pitch, the catcher moves away from the plate as Bench stands there with his bat not ready since he is being intentionally walked and the the catcher quickly moves back behind the plate as the pitcher throws the ball right down the middle as Bench stands there and watches a 3rd strike to end the inning. It was very bizarre and he simply turned around and walked back to the dugout. If you didn't understand the nuances of baseball, that incredible play would be lost on you.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. An honest response

Thank you, jp.

The nuances are many, yes. They can be learned, but it takes a long time.

[Awsi Dooger]

26. There are no nuances to baseball

That's the great mythology and always embraced like the meaning of life by baseball supporters. So I'm hardly surprised it's already been trumpeted here.

Football is an incredibly complicated sport. So many permutations with physical contact and the success or failure of the play dependent on one-on-one matchups all over the field. You can literally watch a play over and over and consistently find something, a vital factor, that you missed every time previously. The line play in particular is fascinating, huge skilled athletes trying to brutally maul each other with also a level of finesse and strategy.

Baseball has nothing of the sort. Even the aspects that are touted as nuances, like pitching strategy within an at bat or to the same batter over the course of a game or season, are straight forward and blase. Wow, the fielders shift based on batter or situation. So complicated.

I never liked baseball but when my job required me to chart the stats and watch the damn games I knew all the players and the tendencies. It was simpleton to the point of sominex. All the sportsbook regulars here knew the same things I did, the exact so-called nuances. Predicting how they would pitch to the batter based on situation and who was up next. Could not have been more of a daily routine.

In those sportsbooks during football season, all eyes are on the football and if you mention a great seal block by the tight end there is stone silence, no clue what you are talking about.

[Oeditpus Rex]

53. Uh... okay

:eyes:

[LostinVA]

43. I do, and I still think it is boring

[Common Sense Party]

8. I dunno, it just is. To me.

In my case, it's just personal preference. I love soccer, which 80% of Americans (or so it seems) think is deathly boring.

I think American football is verrrrrrrrrry boring.

Baseball, to me, isn't that interesting for much the same reason--it's sporadic moments of brief activity separated by long pauses of relative inactivity. I guess I am attention-deficient.

Soccer and basketball are more interesting because they're much more fluid; it seems that the game is always moving--except the last 2 minutes of a basketball game, with all the stupid timeouts.

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. I understand that

It takes a fan of some years to understand the aforementioned nuances of baseball that give it fluidity, whereas it's much more apparent in soccer — which I enjoy very much, btw. I think the reason most Americans don't embrace it is they equivocate action with scoring.

I used to be a huge basketball fan, but that was before it became a 48-minute slam-dunk contest with virtually no defense and rule changes to accommodate the razzle-dazzle.

[Common Sense Party]

94. I'm sure there are nuances to baseball that I just don't perceive.

There are probably nuances to fishing, too, but I'm not about to watch it on TV. :boring:

I agree with you about basketball, so far as the NBA goes. I don't watch pro ball. I like watching high school games, and I watch March Madness every year.

That and World Cup fever every 4 years is about the extent of my interest in sports.

[bridgit]

11. i do not accept the premise...

[elocs]

12. I would like to know

how anybody could watch golf or bowling on tv and not find it boring with a capital B.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. I can't speak to bowling

But I've learned that you have to have played golf to appreciate watching it.

[elocs]

18. My opinion of golf is the same as that of Mark Twain:

"A good walk spoiled".

[LostinVA]

44. I love watching golf tournaments and crew races on TV

To me, they are exciting.

But, I do agree with bowling, but I consider that a game, not a sport.

[mykpart]

17. Baseball is very exciting to watch in person,

but on TV, not so much. Conversely, I think football is more fun to watch on TV than in the stadium. Baseball fans are less obnoxious than football fans.

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. Bingo

Teevee screws up baseball, particularly Faux Sprots. When you're at a game, you can decide what interests you and watch that. On teevee, you've got a camera director who often seems not to have a freakin' clue, and then they throw up some irrelevant graphic every other pitch. (Faux drives me nuts with that.)

[Richard Steele]

21. Yup, it's the PACING of the game.

Baseball is too slow to enjoy via TV, and Basketball is too fast.
American football is just right.

But to go watch in person, I'll take baseball or basketball
anyday. Football really isn't any better LIVE.
There's a REASON the most diehard football fans
spend 7 hours drinking in the parking lot before
every game, y'know.

[jus_the_facts]

24. BORING? I listen to ESPN Sunday night games on the RADIO...

....because I only get to watch ONE damn game on Saturday on FOX no less as I refuse to pay for TV....I LOVE Baseball more than all other pro sports....still love college football and basketball too and listen to those games on the radio as well when I don't have any another choice. :D

[Mutley]

25. Because they don't understand it.

I tend to find sports that I don't understand boring.

[Bassic]

33. I understand baseball just fine

And I still think it's boring.

[LostinVA]

45. Me too

[Mutley]

48. Well then, only Some of the people

who don't like baseball don't understand it. :hi:

[Bassic]

51. I guess that's true

:hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

27. I don't hate baseball, but it gets so numbing after a while.

Especially if no one is scoring much, or if the game goes beyond nine innings. So repetitive.

[Cruzan]

29. The deadly combination of slow and repetitive

It's not just that nearly all the 'action' is confined to three players: the pitcher, the catcher, and the batter where 90% of it is just the pitcher throwing and the catcher catching, what kills it for me is that this monotonous back and forth of the ball is further drawn out by the batter stepping out of the box for little 'time outs' and the pitcher likewise going off the mound for 'conferences' or just to scratch himself. If all of this could be way cut back, say with a 24 second clock or something like in basketball, I think it would greatly improve both the game pace and the interest of the viewers, and as a result increase the game's popularity which (I think) has been waning over the last couple of decades or so.

[reyd reid reed]

34. That's all part of it, though

Kind of like a chess match where you're trying to break the other player's concentration. Stepping out of the batter's box at the last second is designed to throw the pitcher's timing and the pitcher stepping off the mound is designed to keep the base runner(s) in check and on the bag and to draw out the at bat and disrupt the batter's concentration.

I know, your response is going to be along the lines of, "Well, that's fine but I don't like to watch a chess match either, it's boring." But the chess match doesn't follow the intricate dance steps with a grounder shot down the first base line for a base-clearing triple.

There's a finesse involved, a strategy, that's like a dance. The ball leaves the mound and all things are possible. A passed ball or wild pitch (saw one not too long ago that was so wild it bounced into the seats behind home plate -- over the screen), a broken-bat grounder to short for a double play, a home run that sails out of the park, arcing against the sky, a bloop single, a ground-rule double, a strike out...the combinations and possibilities are practically infinite. All that has to happen is for the ball to leave the pitcher's hand.

And don't get me started on the breathtaking, awe-inspiring beauty of a tight double play...

*sigh*

:loveya:

[_testify_]

37. Awesome post.

:loveya:

I don't remember the exact turn of words but someone said that the beauty in baseball was the long periods of seeming inactivity punctuated by incredible bursts of action.

That's a big part of it for me. Know what else is great? The tension that builds as a pitcher falls behind a batter in the count, with runners in scoring position.

[GalleryGod]

50. And those Network mandated TV Timeouts are so Cool ?

in the Nazi No-Fun League that changes it's rules EVERY year ?

"After further review"..elapsed time 5:00

"Coach Belechik has thrown the red challenge flag !"
"The Ground can't cause a fumble" OOOPS! "Now the ground can cause a fumble"

"The Tuck Rule" or as Raiders fans still call it.."We're f%cked rule"


There is NO CLOCK in baseball...that's it and that's that...and as an aside, 3 players involved ?

[Oeditpus Rex]

54. There are at least 10 players involved

on every pitch. You've got to know what to look for.

Again, this is where teevee fucks it up. When I'm at a game, I might want to watch the shortstop or second baseman as a pitch is thrown, or even the center fielder. Teevee doesn't allow this.

Aside, I don't understand why so many fans are homer-happy. The most exciting play in baseball is an extra-base hit with the bases loaded. Thirteen guys in motion with several possible outcomes. Yeah! :woohoo:

[av8rdave]

30. It's not boring, but it also doesn't "fit" television like football does

Same reason soccer hasn't taken off in this country. The media needs a sport that can be stopped at will to insert commercials. Football is practically made for that.

[wildhorses]

31. people of a lower IQ do not understand the finesse involved,

the subtleties, the finer nuances:hide:











































:yoiks:

[LostinVA]

46. That's 'cause I'm a Mundane... sorry

[wildhorses]

84. oh sweetie, you are anything BUT mundane...

where ever in the world did you get that idea???
:hug:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

32. I don't necessarily find baseball boring, but I can understand why...

others might.

There are a lot of games where nearly nothing happens. Baseball is much more interesting in person also, so those who can't go to games won't ever understand that.

[Magrittes Pipe]

36. Because some people have no souls.

x(

[Avalux]

38. I like it live - not on TV though.

It just moves too slow for me - I sometimes just wanna scream when the pitcher messes around, spends forever pitching to one guy - ball, strike, ball, ball, strike, and then a ton of foul balls that don't count for anything and the poor batter usually has to sit down after all that. Takes FOREVER!!!! ;-)

[XNASA]

39. It's not boring. It's Pastoral.

[GoneOffShore]

40. Look at it the way Andy Griffith did

In his monologue from many years ago - "What is was, was football". If you can find it, it's very funny. Especially the line about the girls in the little skirts that made him decide to stay and watch.

However:

All team sports involve two groups of people running around a restricted field, chasing a ball, either with their feet, their hands or sticks. Their behavior is governed by archaic rules, which most of them don't truly understand. They are surrounded by a crowd of cheering non athletes who are actually hoping for blood to be spilled in some fashion or another. The spectators seldom understand the rules either, but have devoted a large amount of time, energy and money supporting their "team".

OK, I'm a non sports fan - I'll occasionally watch something, like soccer or rugby, sports that don't require a lot of gear, or bicycling, something which does, just to make sure I'm not missing something. I find that I'm not missing anything. Except for one on one competition or better yet, competition against the clock or the elements, sport seems pretty pointless. Maybe a way to get rid of tension or aggression, but that's about it.

The only reason I'd ever go to a live sporting event would be the tail gate party.

[ComerPerro]

67. If you want to get technical

in baseball, the defense controls the ball. The offense just trys to keep it away from them long enough to buy time.

[Strawman]

41. Is this boring?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RSRGYzli2Lg

Hell no.

[LostinVA]

42. The only thing more boring is autoracing

OMG.... I can't stand it.

[GalleryGod]

47. OOooooo DUJHS caf Food fight !?!

This is the FOURTH time for this thread since Memorial Day.:argh:

[Oeditpus Rex]

60. Not exactly

Other threads have been along the lines of "Football rawks; baseball sux."

I want to know why people think that. I started this thread not as a paean to baseball but as an analysis of sorts.

[Orrex]

49. Because no game in history has ever taken less than 20 hours

Of which approximately 14 minutes were spent in watchable play.

Good heavens, boring doesn't begin to describe it.

[Benfea]

52. Everything happens at a slow pace.

Preface: I'm generally not interested in watching sports, much less baseball. In the rare event that I do watch sports it's usually soccer and then only during the World Cup.

In baseball, hardly anything happens, or rather things happen at a slow pace. At any given moment, only two to four people are actually moving; the rest of them are just standing around scratching and spitting.

[ComerPerro]

70. in all seriousness, that builds suspense and pressure

less action means more time to think, more time to think means more pressure.

[Benfea]

87. That's a rationalization if I ever heard one.

American football involves a lot more thinking than baseball. Even the dumbest lineman has to memorize a dizzying array of incredibly complicated plays just to achieve rudimentary functionality, and organizing a proper defense in soccer requires a whole lot of thinking, which has to be adjusted constantly in real time as 20 players race around the field.

[ComerPerro]

92. Well, for one thing, I think you misunderstood

and, for another, to address your point about linemen:

All they need to know is which way to block, and what the guy next to them is doing.

And, by "thinking", or "time to think", as I believe I said, I mean, there is downtime which does not exist in the NFL that takes place in baseball. Between each pitch, for example.

Football is mostly reactionary. The thinking comes in training, so they can execute on field without thought.

Same thing happens with a shortstop when he fields a grounder. But he has more time between plays.

[elocs]

55. Ultimately, for any game or sport, if you like it it's not boring to you.

Baseball is more of a leisurely experience with no clock--it takes as long as it takes. Unlike football where there are many players doing things at the same time, baseball can be just the pitcher against the hitter. Theoretically, if the pitcher can strike out every batter all he needs is a catcher. One of the things I liked about baseball is that it has a 162 game season. Unlike baseball, there is no "wait til next Sunday". After the Cincinnati Reds lost the 6th game of the 1975 World Series to the Red Sox, Pete Rose of the Reds told his manager Sparky Anderson that it was the best game he ever played in. Sparky told him, "Pete, we lost". Rose's answer was, "Yeah, but we'll bet 'em tomorrow" and they did. Football and baseball may both be sports, but to compare them, or others with baseball is to compare apples and oranges. It's only too bad that for many the sports that were enjoyed as games are no longer games, but big business.

[Joe Fields]

56. It might have something to do with the Yankees buying all the talent.

All the other teams might as well be tripleA, with the exception of two or three. Until small market teams can compete, then baseball will continue to be a bore.

[Oeditpus Rex]

57. So, parity makes for excitement?

I don't understand that. There's no greater disparity in American professional sports than in football.

[Joe Fields]

63. Hell yes. Take a look at the NFL. Perfect example.

Salary caps make sense.

[ComerPerro]

69. Yes, parity makes for excitement

And how can you say that pro football has such disparity?

The talent is widespread, and one season's champion could be next season's loser very easily, and vice versa.

Has to do with them having widespread talent, very few games (which I don't care for), and and single-game playoffs and championships (again, I'm not a fan, but it makes for parity)

[Oeditpus Rex]

72. If there's such parity in the NFL

why are there always teams that go 3-13 and others 13-3?

In baseball, if you win only a third of your games you suck big time. Many NFL teams have such records every year. Also, a fifth-place ball club beats a first-place club almost every day. In football, upsets are rare.

[ComerPerro]

76. its always different teams. and its a short schedule

In the NFL, once you start to really slide, you're through

[Joe Fields]

111. Question: When was the last football dynasty?

Give you a hint: it was before salary caps and revenue sharing.

[ComerPerro]

71. That's the truly hilarious thing about the Yankees

the fact that they don't win 140 games every season is embarssing, lol.

[Reverend_Smitty]

59. Nothing boring about baseball...

it's the only sport that entices all the senses, it also lends itself to conversation better than any sport...great for bonding with a friend or family member. Also it's one of the few sports that can go from 0 to 60 in no time flat. Yep nothing boring about baseball

[leftofthedial]

61. because the Cubs, the Rockies AND the Pirates

are all three in the National League at the same time

[reyd reid reed]

62. Awwwwww...

:cry:

Gotta love my Cubbies.

You hear me?

You've GOTTA. I insist.

So. There.

[leftofthedial]

64. I'm a recovering Cubs fan

Unfortunately for me, I'm recovering in Colorado . . .

I'm getting real tired of two-inning "games"

[reyd reid reed]

68. Heh

I feel your pain. It sucks to be a Colorado Cub, doesn't it. People look at you with such pity, "Awwwww, look. Hey, it'll be okay. Maybe next year, huh?"

But...I love my Cubbies anyway.

:hi:

[ComerPerro]

65. I would guess no clock, no constant action, no high scores

I still find it very exciting though, lots of tension...

[Burma Jones]

66. Baseball on TeeVee is more boring than Football on TeeVee

and the evolution of television corresponds nicely with the replacement of baseball by football as the so called national pastime.

When I think about it, I prefer a good Radio broadcast of a baseball game to watching it on the television.

Going to a baseball game is one of the most perfect ways of getting drunk on beer there is.

Football is just more amenable to a televised spectacle than is baseball. Baseball really requires that you take in the whole picture at once even as you might concentrate on the hitter or the pitcher, you really have to be able to let your concentration shift around much more than you would with football.

[Oeditpus Rex]

73. Ka-ching!

That's one of the things I truly love about it. Dunno how many times I've wished my eyes worked independently so I could watch two things at once, because so often there's great importance in the actions or reactions of players who aren't anywhere near the ball.

Edit: Gotta admit, though, the same can be said for other sports. In football, for example, if a guy in the secondary reads the play well, he's gonna be in good position for a pick, or at least to fuck up the pass route. I'd like to see what that guy does just off the snap, too.

[Rabrrrrrr]

74. On TV or the radio it's the most boring thing ever, worse than basketball.

Live, though, I enjoy baseball a lot - fan watching, chatting with people, ordering brats and pretzels and beers. Great stuff!

But come on - you have to admit, baseball is NOT a highly active game. It's mostly guys standing around scratching themselves and spitting, waiting for a ball to be hit to them, which it rarely is.

[Oeditpus Rex]

75. Nope — I don't have to admit that

Like I keep saying, you gotta know what to look for. But, yeah — teevee puts a serious crimp in what you can see. At the yard, it's much better.

I really think teevee's the key. If you've seen baseball only on the tube, you're not as likely to enjoy/appreciate it as if you've been to some games. And I've been to more than 500.

[Rabrrrrrr]

88. Actually, I think you DO need to admit it.

It is, IMO, a totally objective and true statement: baseball is not high action. Doesn't mean it's boring, wrong, or something to sneer at - but to say it's a fast action game is a misnomer. The vast majority of time very little is actually happening in terms of action.

I have had the pleasuer the last two summers to have my seats near a guy who umpires and who is also very nice enough to explain a LOT of things I never understood, and a GREAT MANY things I didn't even realize existed (like if you have two strikes and hit the ball and it hits the plate but doesn't go anywhere you can run to first base if something else... i can't remember, but anyway, he's really opened up the game for me and showed me some of the more bizarre rules that don't come up very often; and I'm much better at telling the difference between an error and a not-error).

it's definitely not an action game, though - which is why I love going to them! I also love that there's no bullshit mandatory end of the game in overtime: it goes on 'til someone wins, and both sides get a chance to play, too. One thing I hate about football overtime is that it's "First one to score wins!", which is an inherently bullshit and unfair methodology. They should play a whole 'nother quarter.

[Oeditpus Rex]

89. I was referring to 'scratching themselves and spitting'

That's just nonsense. Watch the fielders; they react... no, they proact to every pitch. They know what the pitch is gonna be and what the pitcher's trying to do. They also know what they're gonna do in a given situation.

How many times have you heard announcers say a fielder got a good jump on a ball? I want to see the jump, not just be told about it. I also want to try to figure out if there's a defensive play on, or watch what the fielders do when a hit-and-run, steal or sacrifice is on. There's a lot to be learned about the game that way.

Like rrr said earlier, it's a chess match. But the pieces are alive and thinking.

[Ravenseye]

77. It's boring because it's too cerebral and stacato

I think baseball is a very fun game to play, but to watch...it's too slow. I prefer faster action, and more physicality. I think American Football is good, though that too has become far too drawn out. Basketball has made scoring so repetitive that it almost becomes meaningless. Soccer has made scoring so difficult, that it gives each goal too much importance.

Hockey is as close to perfection for me. It's fast, perhaps the fastest game. The slapshots are as fast as fastballs, and the skaters fly up and down the ice faster than anyone can run. It's physical, with checks, and shoving, and battling. It's got touch and skill, with puckhandling and passing at speed, deft hand work from goalies and forwards maneuvering to bat down 90 mph pucks into a corner of the goal. It's got set strategy in the power plays, and it has improvisational strategy and teamplay the rest. There are stoppages but usually less than 30 seconds to get the next faceoff, and usually only one longer tv break in each period. Hockey has it all.

Baseball is missing the speed. It has it in bursts, but most of the time it's very still. It occasionaly has some physicality when someone is charging home and takes out the catcher, but for the most part nobody touches each other. It's got touch and skill, but again, most of the time they're just standing around. It's got tons of strategy, but most of it is set, and good teams are ones that know that if X happens with Y on Z base then throw to A but only if B is not heading towards base C, in which case he should throw to D, wait...WHY IS HE THROWING TO E! NO!. Then there are stoppages almost constantly. Every minute there is maybe 10 seconds of action in baseball.

That's why it's boring to me.

[Broken_Hero]

107. I agree

with your feelings on Hockey just about being perfect, as a sport. I agree, the action...there is always something going on, and there is more to look forward to, than scoring. I get all giddy, when people hit the boards, and that defenseman, or whomever comes up on that poor sap and BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! Slams dude up against the glass...

It is brutal, these guys have to be skating pretty fast, and to be caught so unawares, against the glass...whoooooo, most of the best hits I have ever seen have been up against the boards...whew.

Scoring comes in spurts, I remember seeing the Avalanche score three times in like 20 seconds in 2001...so it has it moments, but for me, its the other action...especially the boards(if you haven't noticed!)....:) Oh, and line change...its hard to notice line shifts, unless you know what you are looking for...:P

I still like baseball, its not boring to me, but NFL has been getting boring to me for a while....to much sitting around, to many commercials. For football I enjoy college, because it seems to move smoothly, and there isn't 843658749585 commericals...:) :hi:

[Ravenseye]

109. I recorded an NFL game last year on my DVR

It recorded for 3 and a half hours. I sped through the crap and just watched the plays. I made it through the whole game in 20 minutes. Too much filler in football these days. Heck games used to last 3 hours on TV, so they've padded in a whole 'nother half hour of commercials. It's sick.

[Broken_Hero]

110. it is...:)

no doubt about that...:)

on edit:spelling

[taterguy]

78. It's boring because I wasn't good at playing it

It requires hand-eye coordination far beyond what I have. I also have relatively weak upper body strength so I could never throw very well.

I did enjoy Bull Durham though and would go to lots of minor league games if more fans looked like Susan Sarandon

[Ariana Celeste]

79. I don't dislike baseball, but...

it is a little slow for me, personally. That is why I enjoy watching a whole football game, but rarely was able to watch a whole baseball game, back when I did watch (When I lived in WA).... just seems to me there is more action in football. I've had fun watching both, just more fun watching football. (now basketball, that is really boring in my eyes...)

I don't know a whole lot about either of them, though- no statistics and very few player's names, what years what teams were at their peak or any crap like that- I just have a fairly decent understanding of how the games are played.

:hi: :7

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

80. Honestly? I'm not into any sports (unless pball counts). It's probably

because I suck at playing them. My hand-eye coordination sucks :(

[Katina]

81. it's only boring if you have a losing team

:silly:

[texas1928]

82. it is just too repetitive and any time I try to watch it...

They go into extra innings. and it is like a 0-0 tie. It just never really has interested me. Just like fishing, I get drunk when I try either.

[musiclawyer]

83. Same reason some people think soccer is boring

failure to appreciate or under appreciation of strategy, nuance and rhythm of the game. I love both. But I know both.
I know nothing of Nascar. But some people love it cause they know it. I happen to think its boring. But as a respectful person I'm not going to trash-talk Nascar. To each his own. Only thing I will trash-talk is George Bush.

[Common Sense Party]

95. Maybe you just don't appreciate *'s nuances and rythym?

:)

[Arugula Latte]

85. I like it better than basketball, soccer, football, hockey, etc.

I don't really like sports, but I do kinda like a little baseball once in awhile. I actually think it's less boring than those other sports.

[Broken_Hero]

86. Baseball boring?

No way...:) As a matter of fact, I use to be a big football man, until football games started lasting longer and longer, getting more boring...it seems we are commercialed to death in football, especially MNF...oh geez, a commercial after every kick off, after every punt, after ever thing it seems....:(

Baseball on the other hand, seems to move faster...on tv, the game is slower because of commericals...I was at a royals game last month, and timed the exchange of infielders go in, and the other team taking over...took 33 seconds, took 1 minute for the batter/pitcher to be going at it...yet, the commercials last 3-5 minutes...:) watching the game live is an experience, that I think everyone should have at least once...:)

[maveric]

90. Minute for minute there is more action in baseball than football.

Think about it...Players huddle up, walk to the line, stand still while the QB awaits the snap. The play lasts about 3 second or so, then they go back and it all over again.
In baseball someone is always doing something.

[zonkers]

91. Playoffs, Penant races and World series are cool.

But Steroids and big salaries have done a lot to damage the game.

[nickinSTL]

93. I think it's because...

watching baseball is watching a lot of standing around by the players, and a guy throwing a ball to another guy...which someone else occasionally swings a bat at.

I actually like watching baseball, but I can easily see why people think it's boring. Whereas basketball, hockey and even football have virtually non-stop action, baseball, unless you're an afficianado of pitching, is slow, especially low-scoring games.

[GOPisEvil]

96. Baseball commits the cardinal sin of modern American life: it sucks on TV.

Unless it's the playoffs or World Series, there is little in the normal baseball game on TV that holds interest. The non-fan finds it boring because there isn't enough being shown on-screen. The real baseball fan finds it boring because he or she KNOWS there's a lot of activity between every pitch and when the ball is hit, but it's not shown!

[bicentennial_baby]

97. well put, my man...

:thumbsup:

[GOPisEvil]

99. Weather-willing, I'm gonna see some live ball this weekend!

Gonna see the Nats down in DC! :bounce:

[bicentennial_baby]

112. Yay!! Have fun!!

Me, I'm going to see the Pats later this month...Denver game. w00t! :bounce:

[Oeditpus Rex]

98. But that's not baseball's fault

It's teevee's.

Still, the result is the same, innit?

[GOPisEvil]

101. Well...I don't think there's blame to be assigned.

Baseball just doesn't fit on TV, but given that most of us can't be IN the ballpark, TV is about all we can get.

I love baseball. Love it. The only team sport I was ever good at and enjoyed practicing, but I can't watch a whole game on TV. However, I love having XM so I can listen to the game of my choice on the radio. It's comforting on long-ish drives.

[Oeditpus Rex]

103. Yup

I thank the internets deities for mlb.com audio. Best $15 I ever spent. :thumbsup:

[Whoa_Nelly]

100. Personally, I like sitting behind home plate

and watching those cute guys stick their cute butts out and wiggle as they get ready to hit the ball :evilgrin:

[Evoman]

102. Baseball is boring because its grown men hitting a ball with a stick.

I never watch ANY sports on tv..I find them all extremely boring. Its always the same thing over and over and over. Bah! At least there is some sort of movement in football or hockey...but baseball is just like....ball. Ball. Ball. HIT! Run one base. Repeat. BORING!

[Heidi]

106. What? Huh?

:boring:













:P

[pokerfan]

108. I like the playoffs

But the regular season? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

162 games? C'mon! That is almost half the number of days in a year. Then add on the post season, spring training and the hot stove league and it's pretty much year round.

OK, here is what I follow:
College Football (every game means something)
MLB playoffs and the WS
NFL playoffs and the SB
NCAA Basketball Tourney (March Madness)
NHL Playoffs and Stonley Cup

Insert the Olympics every couple years and that's pretty much it.