Are Baseball Players Soft?
- Thread starter Rockslinger
- Start date
I'd like you to repeat that after taking a 100mph fastball off your melon. lol
I don't think they're soft. Because they rely on specific skills more than continuous speed, endurance and power any injury that hampers that skill has a very detrimental effect. A hockey player with a hand injury can still contribute to the team because he can still skate and hit and block shots. A baseball player with a hand injury can't grip the bat or maybe can't throw the ball. A player that can't hit or throw at close to 100% is useless. Even when healthy the good ones hit .300. How low will the average go down with an injury that impairs their hitting.
It's not if they are tough enough to play, it's if the injury hampers them enough from helping their team.
It's not if they are tough enough to play, it's if the injury hampers them enough from helping their team.
The only time I've ever watched baseball was in the heydays of the Blue Jays winning WS's in the 90s. I should not chip in here, but I have heard someone saying baseball players are FAT, looks like it to me. Don't kill me over this, i'm just ignorant about this as I'm of female's feeling 
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.Only you would include a link from a gaming website read by primarily twelve-year olds and from the bastion of thoughtful and cogent sports debate like Bleacher Report
In any case, your question was flawed (big shocker!) Your question seemed to ask whether baseball players were 'soft' on their own. I don't think anyone can easily define what 'soft' means in this context, least of all you. However if we define 'soft' as playing through injuries, ball players do that as well as almost any athlete. It's an incredibly long season, and while I'm not a sports doctor, I would venture a guess that by September at least 80% of everyday players are playing through fairly significant and nagging injuries. For example, even in this World Series, Carlos Beltran played with a rib injury, Allen Craig played through a sprained foot, Shane Victorino a injured back. Beltran and Craig weren't too effective, Victorino was, but they all played. Historically examples are too numerous to mention. If you think Ripken didn't play through significant injuries many times during his 2632-consecutive games played streak, you're foolish. So it's pretty safe to say that the majority of ball players play through injuries, which is how most people define 'soft'.
Now you want to talk about physical contact, well that's an asinine comparison. Obviously football players and hockey players sustain more severe injuries and are exposed to physical contact far more often, because that is the nature of their sports. You can't fault ball players for that. The essence of baseball is periods of inactivity followed by brief, intense spurts of action. Like football, without the extreme physical contact. Does conforming to the rules of the sport, and not being slammed to the turf by a 300-pound defensive end or getting your teeth knocked up by a slapshot make you 'soft'? Every athlete trains their body specifically to the demands of their sport. So while it may be argued that compared to the physical stresses of football or hockey (although as I said, its not as much of a clear argument as the mouthbreathers on bleacher report would have you believe) baseball players are 'soft' (however you choose to define that term) compared to the average population they're not 'soft'. You can pick extreme examples such as Designated Hitters or situational relievers, but they're still incredibly athletically gifted, and you can always pick narrow examples to support your claim. For example, diving in hockey and soccer, which are examples that many people would call 'soft'.
Also, it has been said that the act of throwing a 90mph fastball is one of the single most violent acts in sports. And starting pitchers do it 60 to 100 times a game, 25 to 30 games a year, given health and effectiveness
You need to stop playing the 'bitter, sarcastic old man' role in every thread shack. Relax, unclench, and let your balls descend. For a guy your age, it's not a flattering persona.
I don't think so. Baseball players are largely just a bunch of steroid injected fat pusses who spend most of the 'game' either standing idly by the periphery or sitting on a bench watching others standing idly by. Sporadic and intermittent episodes of physical exertion followed by more errant standing around of 3+ hours. Standing is inter-spersed with occasional spitting of chew tobacco or absent minded scratching of the groin. All the intensity and excitement of watching grandma's face wrinkle. They're all a bunch of prima donnas, and for the majority, should be considered soft. Very soft.
Hmmm.
Your description of a baseball game could also be applied to a football game.
Football Vs. Baseball
A precise analysis of four football games by "The Wall Street Journal" in 2010 found that the amount of action in a football game was 11 minutes, about the same as baseball. As a result, TV broadcasts of both football and baseball games spend huge amounts of time focusing on the nonaction. You see lots of shots of managers in the dugout or in a conference at the mound, relief pitchers coming from the bullpen and hitters taking practice swings and spitting. Likewise, in football, more time is spent in the huddle and standing around during timeouts than actually playing the game. Of course, that leaves plenty of time for commercials.
The Love of the Game
The slow pace of baseball is a selling point for traditionalists. If you love baseball, you love the moments of action and the many more moments of baseball ambiance as the players ponder the significance of the last play while the commentators discuss batting percentages and the history of the teams. If you're in the stands, there's plenty of time for more garlic fries and hot roasted peanuts. It may be surprising to outsiders, but the amount of action has little to do with the popularity of a sport. Football is the most popular sport in America, but compared to basketball or soccer, the amount of action is minuscule.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/4...time-occurs-in-a-baseball-game/#ixzz2jP2IypP3
I'll agree with the sarcastic, but bitter? Absolutely not. I'm having fun.
BTW, thanks for understanding that I'm too old to change. Just a "heads up" for you.
Another BTW, you haven't explained why you do not consider tennis a sport. I believe that was what constanza was referring to when he said that "you'd be wrong". I'd like to hear that one.
Demien, I think you are being a bit too harsh. However, I think that baseball players, unlike athletes in football and hockey, do tend to be fragile and get hurt more easily. For example, Beltran hit a padded wall at a very slow speed and had to leave the game, contrast that with a hockey player who is slammed into the boards and gets back into the play.
Demien, I think what you are saying is that the definition of "sport" is far too broad. For example, should curling and bowling be considered "sports" and yet they are?
So are hunting and fishing........I know I'm going to regret asking this.....but WTF.... what's your point?
I was just expanding on what I think was Demien's point. Anyhow, the issue of what is a "sport" has come up in discussions about what should be included in the Olympics (will try to find a link when time permits). Do you think hunting and fishing will eventually be Olympic sports? Just kidding!
Keep in mind, hockey and football players are conditioned to take hits and have been doing so their whole lives. They train and build their bodies for the hard contact. A baseball player can probably go several games without any significant physical contact. Hockey players take hits every shift and football just about every play and it's been like that for their whole careers.
Oh yeah, another significant detail...padding. Look at the amount of equipment those players wear to protect themselves, hardly a body part that is not protected. Baseball players have a cup. If Beltran had a flak jacket like Peyton (and probably every other QB) wears maybe he would not have separated that rib. Hockey boards give, baseball walls are rigid. In spite of a very painful rib injury, Beltran displayed a lot of toughness by (mostly) playing through it.
I don't think your overall point, or this particular example, hold much water.
Stand in the outfield for a few innings with nothing coming your way. Then a line drive screams out of the infield. Without benefit of a stretch beforehand, you break into an Olympic quality 50 yard dash, while concentrating on a moving ball instead of a stationary tape. At the last second you leap for it and land flat out, smashing your body into the ground and sliding for a few yards. Then you have to jump to your feet, find out exactly what's going on, who is where, and attempt to get the ball to a base that a runner is trying to get to.
Yeah, pussies.
Yeah, pussies.
Although I would not call baseball players wimpy, they do tend to ... how shall I put this ... get on the 'out with an injury' list with injuries hockey and football players would not even consider an injury.
Now Shack, I was with you until " Hockey boards give, baseball walls are rigid...".
I will take running into a padded fence all day over getting hit into the boards.
Shack maybe you have forgotten what a full body contact check feels like.
"Then you have to jump to your feet, find out exactly what's going on, who is where, and attempt to get the ball to a base that a runner is trying to get to."Stand in the outfield for a few innings with nothing coming your way. Then a line drive screams out of the infield. Without benefit of a stretch beforehand, you break into an Olympic quality 50 yard dash, while concentrating on a moving ball instead of a stationary tape. At the last second you leap for it and land flat out, smashing your body into the ground and sliding for a few yards. Then you have to jump to your feet, find out exactly what's going on, who is where, and attempt to get the ball to a base that a runner is trying to get to.
Yeah, pussies.
Did you have to add this part ?
I've explained this several times before and it is a very easy (or should be easy) concept to grasp. Baseball relies on fine skills as opposed to strength, endurance etc. A broken finger does not keep a hockey player out of the lineup. A broken or even sprained finger prevents a ballplayer from performing his most important task...swinging a bat/hitting. A sore ankle means an outfielder cannot track down a fly ball or beat out a grounder to first. If a ballplayer plays with those he is hurting his team. A hockey player can skate and hit and block shots and pass, maybe shoot. No major impact on his performance. A hockey player could have played with Bautista's wrist injury in '12, not because he's tougher but because he could have performed the tasks of an NHL player while Bautista could not swing a bat and hence, useless to the Jays.
It is not the severity of the injury, it is at what point does the injury put the player in a position where he is hurting the team by trying to play. Hope you get it because I am tired of explaining it.
I only used that as an example because of Rock's comment about Beltran. The main point was that hockey/football players are trained for hard bodily contact. BB are not. As well most times a skater knows he's going to get plowed into the boards and has a chance to brace himself. A ballplayer usually has much less awareness of if and when the moment of contact will occur and doesn't have the same preparatory advantage. Look how many players get hurt when they hit boards when they can't brace themselves i.e. hit from behind or sliding into the boards. It's a lot. The outfield wall also have gaps in the padding and metal posts behind the padding. Try running into Wrigley's ivy. Some walls are way worse to hit, even with padding.
I was trying to contrast "hitting" a padded wall at an extremely slow speed versus being slammed into an unpadded board by a 220 pound defenseman.
[video=youtube;A2W3Qm1YTFc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=A2W3Qm1YTFc[/video]
