why most europeans consider baseball boring

[holy king]

seriously, nothing ever seems to happen in this sport. what's the reason people watch it? is it just sitting together having a chat and drinking beer while the tv is on?

 

[dgfred]

Much more fun to play than watch. But after you play awhile, grow older,
cannot play anymore, and understand the game... it seems to be more
interesting to watch. Playoffs and World (wups)... I mean American
Series can be exciting.

 

[Tomoyo]

Yes, it is very fun to play.

Much of the good stuff about watching it, as dgfred said, comes from understanding the little bits of the game. I could try to give examples of situations where there's tons going on without much movement, but each individual situation happens comparatively rarely so that wouldn't be a very compelling argument. However, almost every moment has some sort of deeper tactical or whatever strategy behind it that is extremely interesting.

And really, it's great background noise.

 

[TheLastOne36]

well if it was me, i'd make each point worth 1 instead of 2 and every 3 pointer worth 2.

But since i had a bit of my childhood in Toronto, i understand basketball and i don't find it at all boring. Although Football(soccer) is imo much better.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

err, TLO36, that's basketball, not baseball.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

seriously, nothing ever seems to happen in this sport. what's the reason people watch it? is it just sitting together having a chat and drinking beer while the tv is on?

I can't imagine you've ever watched it, or followed a series or a season. It does work wonderfully well as a social game, where, particularly half-way through a not very close game in the middle of the season, you can just be chatting, drinking, and chilling, knowing that if you do miss anything, well, hey, it's not going to be the end of the world.

But if you want to get into the depths of it, there is an awful lot of reward for the effort you put in. Just knowing the how the pitcher and batter have faced off against each other before, as well as how they're playing this season, and how they've played each other earlier this game - all of these things mean that every At Bat is a mini-poker game between the pitcher and batter, and all of these little battles add up to just a single victory on the night in a 162 game season, or a 7 game series.

The only thing comparable is test cricket. At their best, both sports offer a long slow burning build-up over weeks or months to a point of almost unbearable tension, and either elation or dismay (for me, Adam Wainwright getting the last out in the National League Championship Series 2 years ago was such a point). If you followed and enjoyed the last Ashes (Test Cricket) series in England then you should be able to understand what baseball offers.

And if not, hey, you can still just have a beer, some peanuts and a dog, and just kick back and relax with some friends.

 

[BCLG100]

I've watched it and yeah it is one of them sports but alternativly you could just sit on the grass for the same amount of time with your mates chilling. You can also do that fairly well with friends as its not like the ball is being zipped about all the time.

 

[Joe Harker]

Yo play, yeah it's quite fun to play, but to watch, it's a bit boring, so is test cricket, i can not watch an entire game, i just pop it on to check whether England have lost 5 wickets in as many balls

 

[Quildavyr]

One of the most boring game I have ever seen.Only 5 minutes then I charged remote controller.I lived my life without any regrets but this 5 minutes.

 

[Grisu]

seriously, nothing ever seems to happen in this sport. what's the reason people watch it? is it just sitting together having a chat and drinking beer while the tv is on?

I think the reasons so many europeans (including me) think baseball is boring is the same why so many americans think football is boring. They (We) just don't have a clue about the game

of course, I'd never admit this in a regular my sports is better than your sports pissing contest

 

[Winner]

Much more fun to play than watch. But after you play awhile, grow older,
cannot play anymore, and understand the game... it seems to be more
interesting to watch. Playoffs and World (wups)... I mean American
Series can be exciting.

I was forced to play it in high school and it was the most boring game I've ever played. In the other thread, I said that football (soccer) is at least fun to play, but it doesn't apply here.

 

[Son_Of_Dido]

Most things in this world are "boring" to those who choose not to understand them.

And we are all naturally biased towards what we grew up in/with.

Complaining that "nothing ever seems to happen in this sport" is merely a sign of not knowing what to look for, much like the stereotypical American who watches a series of back and forth passes over the midfield line in a soccer match with no apparent consistent attempt to move the ball towards the goal, and bemoan that nothing's happening, its just a bunch of guys kicking around, and why doesn't this boring game have more scoring in it?

 

[MilesGregarius]

I think the reasons so many europeans (including me) think baseball is boring is the same why so many americans think football is boring. They (We) just don't have a clue about the game

of course, I'd never admit this in a regular my sports is better than your sports pissing contest

Most things in this world are "boring" to those who choose not to understand them.

And we are all naturally biased towards what we grew up in/with.

Complaining that "nothing ever seems to happen in this sport" is merely a sign of not knowing what to look for, much like the stereotypical American who watches a series of back and forth passes over the midfield line in a soccer match with no apparent consistent attempt to move the ball towards the goal, and bemoan that nothing's happening, its just a bunch of guys kicking around, and why doesn't this boring game have more scoring in it?

Too true, too true.

Another couple of points on baseball:

It may not make great television, but baseball is hands down the best radio spectator sport out there (barring perhaps cricket, which I've never heard). Football (whatever variety you prefer), hockey, basketball all lose something when you can't follow the action visually. Baseball, on the other hand, is almost better when it's just Vin Scully or Harry Caray's voice coming across the ether. All the down time during the game, which may be a negative live or on TV, provides a quality storyteller, like all the best baseball announcers, the chance to connect baseball's present with its past, its traditions. Also, baseball's static nature allows the listener to more clearly visualize the action described: "Fastball, high and tight" or "A harder chopper over the mound" provides a more precise image than "Giggs. Now Rooney. Back to Giggs". And finally, the clear, clean crack of bat on well-struck ball is maybe the only sound in sport that needs no clarification by announcer or reaction from crowd to let you know someone just scored.

Baseball is also much more cerebral than most other sports, which are much more visceral. The mental battle between pitcher/catcher and batter trying to out think each other on pitch selection is a subtlety even most actual baseball fans don't follow. And being a game of percentages, it's a numbers geek's wet dream.

Finally, the length of a baseball season is unique among major sports. American football teams play sixteen times a season. Rugby teams play what, around twenty-four a year plus maybe half a dozen cup ties? A domestic footy season is thirty-eight, forty odd games, with top teams adding maybe a dozen cup ties. Even basketball and ice hockey call it quits after eighty-two. Every baseball season runs, some would say drags on, for 162 games, five or six a week. This demands a measure of consistency that sports with shorter seasons don't, though said sports are usually much more physically taxing. All this means that following baseball is often more about following the season (more joy for numbers geeks) than the game. Also, when professional sports came of age, the man in the stands (who probably worked ten-plus hours a day in the factory with a half day on Saturday) would have had a hard time accepting an athlete who only had to perform once a week as an honest working man.

Overall, baseball, like any sport, is an acquired taste. It's also very much a product of the 19th Century, seeing its true heyday from the 1920s to 1950s, during, not coincidentally, radio's greatest era. As such, it may no longer have the cache it once did the US, and, as an American creation, it never caught on in Europe (parts of the Far East and Latin America, lacking indigenous club sports or pro leagues, snapped it right up). The other major sports may have roots in the 19th Century, but all have become much more prominent more recently, and this is arguably due to television bringing their fans excitement that radio was ill-equipped to convey.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Good post MG, good post. (As were the two which you chose to quote)

 

[warpus]

Baseball is a sport of statistics; if you don't understand that then you will forever find it boring.

Having said that.. I do think it's boring. I hate sports with too many breaks in action.

 

[dannyshenanigan]

I think where other people who don't understand baseball see breaks between action as being boring, I see them as adding tension and dramatic build up. It gives players time to strategize before plays that may last fractions of a second. That's why my favorite player ever is Greg Maddux. No other pitcher ever could out think a hitter like Maddux.

 

[dgfred]

I was forced to play it in high school and it was the most boring game I've ever played. In the other thread, I said that football (soccer) is at least fun to play, but it doesn't apply here.

You must have REALLY sucked at it . What's more fun than throwing
stuff as hard as you can or knocking the crap out of the something (ball) with a stick???

 

[illram]

I can understand why someone who doesn't play it or doesn't understand it/have a vested interested in a team would find it boring. To each their own. I find cricket boring but I have no clue what is going on.

And hitting a baseball is probably the funnest thing to do in any sport. Pitching is a close second. That's probably what I miss most; although I still get to hit with friends when we play homerun derby or go to the batting cages, I haven't pitched since high school and I miss it; you can't really say to your friend "hey man want to catch some fastballs out in the yard?"

 

[The Yankee]

I'm terrible at hitting, but baseball is a nice cerebral game for me. Plus as a stat fanatic, baseball has metrics galore!

I mean, I managed to hit a ball once in a batting cage....with my hand....

 

[BirraImperial]

A friend of mine from Venezuela (where Baseball is the national sport) says that most people just go to the stadiums to chat and drink beer. So I figure baseball is mostly a sport where you can interact with others without missing most of the action. I only watch the World Series, I do know most of the rules I think.