• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

so the experts agree. baseball is the hardest sport

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Originally posted by: rudder
Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
Golf by miles.

Is this even a sport? First off, you play in polos. You drive around in an electric cart, and you can drink beer in between each hole. Sure you can break a sweat in the summertime, but you can also pay some kid a few dollars to carry around your clubs all day.
In casual baseball play nothing prevents you from drinking beer between innings. There's also this thing called a batboy. 😉

The definition of what sport is "hardest" is kind of arbitrary too. I don't think that, mentally, there is any sport more difficult than golf. For pure overall physicality I'd have to say surfing and basketball would be a tie. For physical wear and tear, football. It may be the toughest overall to make contact between a baseball and a bat, but that's focusing on only one aspect of the sport. The rest of baseball is pretty lame and not really very demanding physically or mentally, except in very short spurts.
 
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
that's right haters. suck it.

Text

This has been common knowledge since uh, the 20's?

were football and basketball even played professionally in the 20's?
i think not.

Hitting a round ball with a round bat is harder skillwise than anything remotely related to football and basketball, read the article. This has been known since the 20's, yes. To the moron who said it takes more skill to dodge linebackers and read a defense, nope. Passer completion ratings are much higher (even 20+ yards) than hitting a baseball, that's eons easier. Not even close.

Why set it to 20 yards? Why not set it to 60+ yards? It's arbitrary, unlike baseball where a hit is a hit, and a fairly consistent quantity compared to the variety of plays in football.
Don't tell me making a huge run or pass for significant yards is easier than making a hit in baseball, especially when facing a tough defense. Football can require hand-eye coordination and skill greater than baseball, but there's a lot more variability than with baseball, so it's not as easily quantifiable.

 
Originally posted by: Crono
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
that's right haters. suck it.

Text

This has been common knowledge since uh, the 20's?

were football and basketball even played professionally in the 20's?
i think not.

Hitting a round ball with a round bat is harder skillwise than anything remotely related to football and basketball, read the article. This has been known since the 20's, yes. To the moron who said it takes more skill to dodge linebackers and read a defense, nope. Passer completion ratings are much higher (even 20+ yards) than hitting a baseball, that's eons easier. Not even close.

Why set it to 20 yards? Why not set it to 60+ yards? It's arbitrary, unlike baseball where a hit is a hit, and a fairly consistent quantity compared to the variety of plays in football.
Don't tell me making a huge run or pass for significant yards is easier than making a hit in baseball, especially when facing a tough defense. Football can require hand-eye coordination and skill greater than baseball, but there's a lot more variability than with baseball, so it's not as easily quantifiable.

The better question is who cares? Baseball is baseball and football is football.

Everyone can dig up arguments to support which game is harder, but the truth is that their entirely different beasts, requiring entirely different skill-sets and training.
 
Were people actually claiming it is easy to hit a 90mph baseball? I don't care how hard it is, it's boring as shit.
 
Originally posted by: Crono
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
that's right haters. suck it.

Text

This has been common knowledge since uh, the 20's?

were football and basketball even played professionally in the 20's?
i think not.

Hitting a round ball with a round bat is harder skillwise than anything remotely related to football and basketball, read the article. This has been known since the 20's, yes. To the moron who said it takes more skill to dodge linebackers and read a defense, nope. Passer completion ratings are much higher (even 20+ yards) than hitting a baseball, that's eons easier. Not even close.

Why set it to 20 yards? Why not set it to 60+ yards? It's arbitrary, unlike baseball where a hit is a hit, and a fairly consistent quantity compared to the variety of plays in football.
Don't tell me making a huge run or pass for significant yards is easier than making a hit in baseball, especially when facing a tough defense. Football can require hand-eye coordination and skill greater than baseball, but there's a lot more variability than with baseball, so it's not as easily quantifiable.

The fact that there's LESS variability with baseball and yet it's still considered a success every 3 out of 10 times and players are the highest paid in all of sports should tell you something. No sport, including football, takes as much hand-eye as baseball and ESPN confirms it. It's the hardest sport skillwise, like I said - this has been known since the 20's. I find it funny that people are even debating it.
 
meh, it's considerably easier if you've been doing it since you were a kid. It's not some mysterious sport where only select few people can hit a curving ball.

BTW, ice hockey kicks my ass. It is all practice before perfection. Every little move you make you would have had to do it many times before.
 
Originally posted by: mb
Were people actually claiming it is easy to hit a 90mph baseball? I don't care how hard it is, it's boring as shit.

Yeah, regardless of how boring it is/isn't to watch, hitting a baseball is by FAR more difficult than any other individual action in other sports. I've played all of the major sports competitively and nothing else even compares. That doesn't mean baseball is the hardest sport, because I don't think it is when you take into account everything. But, if you are just ranking individual actions, nothing even compares to hitting a baseball.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
meh, it's considerably easier if you've been doing it since you were a kid. It's not some mysterious sport where only select few people can hit a curving ball.

btw, ice hockey kicks my ass.

Wrong, oh and lol. I played baseball my entire life, had a scholarship to play in college, and I can tell you what you just said is the dumbest thing I've read on these forums in the last week.
 
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: her209
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: DukeN
Golf is definitely more difficult
Not even close. Baseball #1 in Hand-Eye coordination, Golf #21.
And yet Baseball is rank #9 overall behind Basketball (#4) and Football (#3).
Duh, it's more physically demanding so it should be ranked ahead overall. Just like boxing is #1 followed by Ice Hockey. But that's not the point of this thread, keep up.
"hardest" or "most difficult" != hand-eye coordination and nothing else.
 
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
Originally posted by: rh71
meh, it's considerably easier if you've been doing it since you were a kid. It's not some mysterious sport where only select few people can hit a curving ball.

btw, ice hockey kicks my ass.

Wrong, oh and lol. I played baseball my entire life, had a scholarship to play in college, and I can tell you what you just said is the dumbest thing I've read on these forums in the last week.

that's fine, because it's just coming from you.
 
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: Crono
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
that's right haters. suck it.

Text

This has been common knowledge since uh, the 20's?

were football and basketball even played professionally in the 20's?
i think not.

Hitting a round ball with a round bat is harder skillwise than anything remotely related to football and basketball, read the article. This has been known since the 20's, yes. To the moron who said it takes more skill to dodge linebackers and read a defense, nope. Passer completion ratings are much higher (even 20+ yards) than hitting a baseball, that's eons easier. Not even close.

Why set it to 20 yards? Why not set it to 60+ yards? It's arbitrary, unlike baseball where a hit is a hit, and a fairly consistent quantity compared to the variety of plays in football.
Don't tell me making a huge run or pass for significant yards is easier than making a hit in baseball, especially when facing a tough defense. Football can require hand-eye coordination and skill greater than baseball, but there's a lot more variability than with baseball, so it's not as easily quantifiable.

The fact that there's LESS variability with baseball and yet it's still considered a success every 3 out of 10 times and players are the highest paid in all of sports should tell you something. No sport, including football, takes as much hand-eye as baseball and ESPN confirms it. It's the hardest sport skillwise, like I said - this has been known since the 20's. I find it funny that people are even debating it.

The fact that the list has soccer higher up on the list for agility than boxing and martial arts shows you that either the list is a failure, and/or their definitions are.

And pay grade has nothing to do with anything. Baseball is designed more as an individual sport from an offensive perspective, and the top paid players are all from one particularly rich and well established franchise. Look at basketball, and you see the top players are paid fairly competitively with baseball's top players.

Baseball is designed to showcase only a few skills, so you get the impression that they require more ability than sports like football and basketball. But the physical interaction between offense and defense is greater in football and basketball, and they are much quicker paced sports, so you don't fully see the amount of coordination that is necessary. Just because 3/10 is a lower number doesn't mean that it's harder, because the reality is that in basketball and football the difference in performance lies in the ability of one player versus another. Set basketball to full court shots = points only, and then tell me how easy it is versus baseball and how much coordination is needed.

The lack of variation in hitting does not make it more difficult, it just makes it more focused. I agree with the other posters that all sports are difficult on a professional level, though.
 
If you're an "expert" on sports it's because you're too fucking stupid to be an expert on anything that matters. You'll understand if I don't put a lot of credence into what the "experts" have to say.
 
btw, ESPN is not the end-all of sports knowledge. You should see how often their articles provide misinformation. They are merely the biggest presenter.
 
Originally posted by: Crono
The fact that the list has soccer higher up on the list for agility than boxing and martial arts shows you that either the list is a failure, and/or their definitions are.
Or you've never watched a high-level soccer match.
 
I'd argue tennis requires more overall skill than baseball. There is a reason the top tennis players win consistantly, and while there are always upsets, skill really determines the victor of a match over luck.
 
Back
Top