OT: do these people look like athletes to you

[Pelicans78]

And you can only play one position if you're too heavy and that's mainly DH now. Even 1B are becoming more athletic since the steroid era has ended. Defense and speed are becoming paramount since pitching is clearly dominating hitting.

[Blake]

Nope...

have you played any compe ive ball before? Semi-pro?

college? even HS?

Provincial?

soccer? Played up to 9th grade.

I remember playing mid field/half back. It was a load of running with the occasional kick or tackle attempt.

[Raven]

baseball is not a sport, it's a game. It is hard, it is amazing (i guess), but it's not a sport. It's as much a sport as is playing golf or playing poker.

[Blizzardwizard]

Beisbol being destroyed once again

Not even a sport

[weebo]

baseball is not a sport, it's a game. It is hard, it is amazing (i guess), but it's not a sport. It's as much a sport as is playing golf or playing poker.

What cons utes a sport in your mind?

[Malik Hairston]

And you can only play one position if you're too heavy and that's mainly DH now. Even 1B are becoming more athletic since the steroid era has ended. Defense and speed are becoming paramount since pitching is clearly dominating hitting.

It's a tough position for baseball to be in IMO, as the game was much more exciting in the steroid era IMO(as a casual fan that loved baseball in the Bonds era)..

[FkLA]

Athletic baseball players don't make the game itself athletic. I haven't really followed baseball much but back in the day when I followed the Cubs I remember Cory Patterson was a really good athlete...stole a tons of bases and covered a lot of ground at CF. Never developed into a good hitter though so he fizzled out. Meanwhile walruses like Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez (before he lost weight) went on to have long careers.

Being in optimal shape is not a requirement in beisbol. You can't really say that about any other real sport, not sure why that is even an argument tbh.

[Pelicans78]

It's a tough position for baseball to be in IMO, as the game was much more exciting in the steroid era IMO(as a casual fan that loved baseball in the Bonds era)..

Yeah offenses have taken a hit the last few years. Pitchers are dominating hitters like never before. Game is going back to the 70s and 80s where speed and defense are becoming more important.

The positive is games won't be as long as they were in the steroid era where offenses were dominating.

But I don't watch much baseball outside of the Royals. Same with the NBA as well nowadays.

[Strange Love]

This is a nice enough attempt but...what about the other 98% of the fit position players around the league?

[Raven]

What cons utes a sport in your mind?

an activity that forces you into passing the anaerobic threshold...

[FkLA]

This is a nice enough attempt but...what about the other 98% of the fit position players around the league?

They probably spend a couple minutes in motion per game when on base/fielding a ball. The rest of the four hours they're stationary or on the bench chewing sunflower seeds tbh.

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

I actually tried baseball in High School, the coach made me try out because of my arm strength(displayed in dodgeball, tbh), and while I had the power to throw, I had virtually no accuracy..I have no idea how pro pitchers can throw with that type of velocity, yet remain accurate, it is amazing..

Not athletic, though..

It's tough. I practiced hours upon hours to get the accuracy down and I still had bad accuracy games on the AAU level. You're wrong about athleticism though.

[Strange Love]

They probably spend a couple minutes in motion per game when on base/fielding a ball. The rest of the four hours they're stationary or on the bench chewing sunflower seeds tbh.

Doesn't matter what they're doing. This thread is about who's in shape and who's not, right? You can pick from a handful of baseball players that are abit on the heavy side, but what about the rest that make up that difference and more?

Good for a laugh but not too bright when you sit and think about it.

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

Athletic baseball players don't make the game itself athletic. I haven't really followed baseball much but back in the day when I followed the Cubs I remember Cory Patterson was a really good athlete...stole a tons of bases and covered a lot of ground at CF. Never developed into a good hitter though so he fizzled out. Meanwhile walruses like Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez (before he lost weight) went on to have long careers.

Being in optimal shape is not a requirement in beisbol. You can't really say that about any other real sport, not sure why that is even an argument tbh.

If you're not in shape, you will get thrown out on first quite a lot.

[Pelicans78]

Soccer players are athletic with their speed and stamina, but they don't compare athletically to football or basketball players.

[Malik Hairston]

It's tough. I practiced hours upon hours to get the accuracy down and I still had bad accuracy games on the AAU level. You're wrong about athleticism though.

When I question baseball's athleticism, I'm comparing it to other pro sports, tbh..

I'm sure most, if not all pro baseball players are at least above average athletes compared to regular people..some of the guys in the league are certainly high-level athletes, too.. , Jim Thome is probably more athletic than most average people..

[Pelicans78]

When I question baseball's athleticism, I'm comparing it to other pro sports, tbh..

I'm sure most, if not all pro baseball players are at least above average athletes compared to regular people.. , Jim Thome is probably more athletic than most average people..

I think most baseball players are stronger than most soccer players.

[Malik Hairston]

Soccer players are athletic with their speed and stamina, but they don't compare athletically to football or basketball players.

This is true, same for Hockey..

The NFL requires the least amount of skill of any sport(outside of QB and maybe possession WRs), it's almost a purely athletic sport..

[midnightpulp]

You have to be a world class athlete in the traditional sense of the word to play the outfield positions, primarily centerfield. If you don't have wide receiver/running back tier speed and a 30-40" vertical, you can't play the outfield at a professional level. And in addition to that, you have to have a cannon of an arm, a great glove, know how to run the bases with speed, and be able to hit. Objectively speaking, an MLB outfielder might be the most demanding position out of the big sports. Just because you're not jogging around for 90 minutes doesn't mean it's not "athletic."

Take Bo Jackson for instance. Football was basically a hobby for him and he was the best running back in the game from day one until his hip injury. In baseball, Bo's main passion, he was a decent power hitter and made some exciting plays, but he was nowhere near the level of Bonds (even before the roids), Griffey Jr., etc.

I'll say again, baseball is extremely difficult because you can't mask a poor skillset with freakish athleticism, like you can in the NBA and NFL.

[FkLA]

If you're not in shape, you will get thrown out on first quite a lot.

lol no

I mean you might not get any infield hits (neither do the fat guys in the OP though) but you won't get thrown out on a hit that gets past the infield tbh.

Soccer players are athletic with their speed and stamina, but they don't compare athletically to football or basketball players.

Probably. Basketball has that combination of height, athleticism and skill. Football has that combination of size, athleticism and skill.

I do think plenty of soccer players have the speed to play football if they trained for it though. If football was more global Europe, Africa and South America would produce plenty of football players imo.

[weebo]

an activity that forces you into passing the anaerobic threshold...

What makes you think that a baseball player doesn't require endurance? Maybe not at the level of a soccer player but then again a soccer player doesn't have the AT marathon runner. That doesn't make a soccer player any less of an athlete. Also, if you've ever played you would know that position players are constantly moving during live play. So let's not act like they're sitting on lawn chairs while the game is going on. Let's also not forget that even though soccer players play 90 minute matches they play maybe once or twice a week, while baseball players may end up playing 6-7 games a week. If you don't think requires endurance, then you've never really played any kind of compe ive sport your entire life.

[weebo]

Athletic baseball players don't make the game itself athletic. I haven't really followed baseball much but back in the day when I followed the Cubs I remember Cory Patterson was a really good athlete...stole a tons of bases and covered a lot of ground at CF. Never developed into a good hitter though so he fizzled out. Meanwhile walruses like Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez (before he lost weight) went on to have long careers.

Being in optimal shape is not a requirement in beisbol. You can't really say that about any other real sport, not sure why that is even an argument tbh.

Well you can say the same thing about football players. Look at some of the QB's.....I think everyone would agree those guys are athletes despite their size.

[midnightpulp]

Another example.

The world's fastest soccer player reaches speeds up to 20 mph (and I think this is on a dead sprint without the ball) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wor...ootballer.html.

Lorenzo Cain runs 20 mph while having his head up tracking a fly ball http://m.mlb.com/news/article/982704...d-camden-yards.

[Blake]

baseball is not a sport, it's a game. It is hard, it is amazing (i guess), but it's not a sport. It's as much a sport as is playing golf or playing poker.

saying it's like poker is just re ed troll methodology.

But what's relevant there is that I'd rather watch poker than soccer

[Raven]

What makes you think that a baseball player doesn't require endurance? Maybe not at the level of a soccer player but then again a soccer player doesn't have the AT marathon runner. That doesn't make a soccer player any less of an athlete. Also, if you've ever played you would know that position players are constantly moving during live play. So let's not act like they're sitting on lawn chairs while the game is going on. Let's also not forget that even though soccer players play 90 minute matches they play maybe once or twice a week, while baseball players may end up playing 6-7 games a week. If you don't think requires endurance, then you've never really played any kind of compe ive sport your entire life.

you are actually proving your point wrong by making examples. How is it possible to stay fat while palying 6-7 games a week? put a defensive tackle playing as much football as a baseball player does, and let's see if he manages to stay fat.