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Baseball V Cricket?

A Better Sport?


  • Total voters
    110

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
I played Baseball for a season when i was younger and eh. It was difficult at first but when you get into a rhythm and have a decent swing technique its not that hard. Yeah, put me up against a 90mph MLB pitcher and i would miss it 90% of the time but cricket would be a lot harder for a new player. So many different variations a bowler can use. I could easily see someone like Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder being able baseball players with a couple months training.
Where did you play baseball? And if it was only for a season, I assume it was house league or recreational. You can't compare the variations in recreational baseball or even in semi-competitive baseball to that of Minor league or Major league pitchers.

Tbh, if you've only played baseball for one season, chances are you'd miss pitches by an MLB pitcher far more than 90 percent of the time.
 

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
I don't agree to comparing both but somebody said that bowling in cricket didn't have much variety and I was responding to that. And despite all the variations that you mention in baseball you can have even more in cricket.
No I didn't mention ALL the variations in baseball in that post. There's a lot more. I was just providing you with a brief idea.

I agree that bowling in cricket has a lot of variations, but to say there aren't enough variations in baseball is wrong too. In fact, I'd be interested in a list of all the variations in cricket, and even if cricket comes out to have more, it is wrong to compare the two. It doesn't make batting in baseball necessarily easier. Something that I'm sure you agree with.

And bowling in cricket requires more variations because batsmen have a larger bat to work with, aren't required to run upon contact with the ball, and nor is the average speed of the ball as high as that in baseball.
 
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vcs

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I agree with you, Turbinator. It can't have developed into a global sport (America do call themselves baseball World Champions after all, even if only two or three teams actually compete :p) without having some depth to it. Nah, just kidding.

I have absolutely no authority or knowledge to back up what I'm going to say but I'll risk looking like a fool and go ahead anyway. In terms of technical nuances and variety of skills, I'd estimate that a baseball game must be roughly comparable to a T20 game, or at most an ODI. Can't see it coming close to matching a Test in terms of how deeply it engages a viewer intellectually.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
No I didn't mention ALL the variations in baseball in that post. There's a lot more. I was just providing you with a brief idea.

I agree that bowling in cricket has a lot of variations, but to say there aren't enough variations in baseball is wrong too. In fact, I'd be interested in a list of all the variations in cricket, and even if cricket comes out to have more, it is wrong to compare the two. It doesn't make batting in baseball necessarily easier. Something that I'm sure you agree with.
yes i agree with the part in bold but you do realize that I was responding to the poster's comment that there is hardly any variety in cricket bowling except a bouncer or a slower ball :wacko:. It was a silly contention and I think you will agree with this.

And yes theoretically speaking there is more variety in cricket bowling but that doesn't mean that baseball is easier.
 

shankar

International Debutant
Ultimately you're not competing against the rules of the particular game, rather you're competing against the player pool involved in each.
 

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
yes i agree with the part in bold but you do realize that I was responding to the poster's comment that there is hardly any variety in cricket bowling except a bouncer or a slower ball :wacko:. It was a silly contention and I think you will agree with this.

And yes theoretically speaking there is more variety in cricket bowling but that doesn't mean that baseball is easier.
Yeah I agree with you on that.

Your angry because you know cricket is harder.
Haha no, tbh I love both sports. I just don't agree that they can be compared. And really if someone like Ryder or Taylor was able to excel at the game, then why wouldn't they aim to do so? I mean MLB salaries dwarf anything that the likes of Dhoni or Tendulkar earn, and certainly far more than IPL.

If anything I'm angry at the fact that a lot of my OBA (triple AAA rep) teammates received large scholarships to play NCAA baseball, but I didn't :p
 

Mike5181

International Captain
Yeah I agree with you on that.



Haha no, tbh I love both sports. I just don't agree that they can be compared. And really if someone like Ryder or Taylor was able to excel at the game, then why wouldn't they aim to do so? I mean MLB salaries dwarf anything that the likes of Dhoni or Tendulkar earn, and certainly far more than IPL.

If anything I'm angry at the fact that a lot of my OBA (triple AAA rep) teammates received large scholarships to play NCAA baseball, but I didn't :p
Was just winding you up turbs. New Zealand doesn't like to admit but we are a 5 time softball world champ. Don't tell anyone though. We play only rugby.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
I've not watched a lot of baseball but the impression I get is that fitness and fielding standards are generally higher.

On the other hand there definately appears to be more variety in cricket. I admit I don't understand the intricacies of baseball pitching, but it's hard to look past the way baseball batters appear to only have one shot.

Lol, there's just so much wrong with this experiment that it's almost cringeworthy. You'd think that they'd put a little more effort into this.

YouTube - Fox Sport Science - Cricket v/s Baseball
That's amazingly awful.

2:50 - "And it's perfectly legal to throw at the batter!" Er...

Best bit: On the slow-motion replay of the baseballer swinging the cricket bat (the part where they measure bat speed), you can clearly see the ball coming downwards before he hits it. So either this slow bowler they've got on is pitching so short and slow the ball is set to pitch again before it gets to the stumps, or they faked the shot...

Edit: Watching till the end, it turns out they don't even have them bowl. So what are they trying to prove, that more runs are scored in cricket? Aarghghlghblgh
 
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vcs

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I've not watched a lot of baseball but the impression I get is that fitness and fielding standards are generally higher.

On the other hand there definately appears to be more variety in cricket. I admit I don't understand the intricacies of baseball pitching, but it's hard to look past the way baseball batters appear to only have one shot.



That's amazingly awful.

2:50 - "And it's perfectly legal to throw at the batter!" Er...

Best bit: On the slow-motion replay of the baseballer swinging the cricket bat (the part where they measure bat speed), you can clearly see the ball coming downwards before he hits it. So either this slow bowler they've got on is pitching so short and slow the ball is set to pitch again before it gets to the stumps, or they faked the shot...
So true. That's why I don't think any fan of cricket can ever grow to love baseball. At best, I could mildly tolerate its existence, but asking me to like it would probably be a bridge too far. :p
 

shankar

International Debutant
:happy: So as an implication arguments about whether hitting a fullpitch with a round bat or a pitched one with a flatter bat is harder, are irrelevant. Even if baseball consisted of hitting full-tosses with cricket bats, it still wouldn't make a difference to the argument because you're competing against other humans who also have the same constraints as you.
 

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
So true. That's why I don't think any fan of cricket can ever grow to love baseball. At best, I could mildly tolerate its existence, but asking me to like it would probably be a bridge too far. :p
*ahem*

:happy: So as an implication arguments about whether hitting a fullpitch with a round bat or a pitched one with a flatter bat is harder, are irrelevant. Even if baseball consisted of hitting full-tosses with cricket bats, it still wouldn't make a difference to the argument because you're competing against other humans who also have the same constraints as you.
Exactly

On the other hand there definately appears to be more variety in cricket. I admit I don't understand the intricacies of baseball pitching, but it's hard to look past the way baseball batters appear to only have one shot.
Well two, if you count the bunt hit :p
 

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
Was just winding you up turbs. New Zealand doesn't like to admit but we are a 5 time softball world champ. Don't tell anyone though. We play only rugby.
:laugh: That's awesome, I never knew that. Softball is another sport that people try comparing with baseball, as you can see here

As far as World Baseball goes, it's pretty much a joke. A lot of times, Canada and US don't even put out their best players as it clashes with the MLB schedule or lack of motivation/incentive to play, and it ends up being filled with amateur players. And I believe the same occurs for the Latin American teams.
 
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Teja.

Global Moderator
So true. That's why I don't think any fan of cricket can ever grow to love baseball. At best, I could mildly tolerate its existence, but asking me to like it would probably be a bridge too far. :p
Looks like a thoroughly **** sport itbt. From an aesthetic POV, The gear makes the players look like polar bears with serial wanking problems as well.
 

vcs

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Looks like a thoroughly **** sport itbt. From an aesthetic POV, The gear makes the players look like polar bears with serial wanking problems as well.
Thanks for putting my thoughts much more eloquently than I could ever have managed. :laugh:
 

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