OT: do these people look like athletes to you

[midnightpulp]

Also cherry picking DH's and relievers is a bit disingenuous since those positions don't really require much athleticism. It's like posting this pic of Eli Manning and saying, "lol football athletes."



When the fact of the matter is that players like Eli are a rarer commodity in the NFL than "athletic" players.

[spurraider21]

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.

nobody said its easy. just saying it involves less athleticism. a QB is 1/22 starters. a DH is 1/9

[FkLA]

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.

It's a shame that that type of athleticism isn't being used in a real sport. In beisbol he does that what a handful of times per game, for little 5 second bursts?

Nobody is saying there aren't good athletes in beisbol. We're talking about the game itself. These world class athletes are stationary or sitting like 98% of the time bc beisbol doesn't demand anymore from them. No other real sport comes close to demanding so little from it's players.

[midnightpulp]

And baseball certainly requires endurance. I don't know why people have this re ed and oversimplified idea that endurance only equals "running around keeping your heart rate up."

While not all positions in baseball require physical endurance, the catcher and starting pitcher positions sure do. Especially pitching, as we see how the job claims pitcher after pitcher every year sending them into surgery. And as someone who was a pitcher, I'll say that it's far easier to recover from typical aerobic/anaerobic activity required in basketball and soccer than it is after a few innings of pitching, which literally lights your arm on fire.

[weebo]

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.

How am I proving my point wrong when I'm talking about position players and AT? Does baseball have overweight athletes? Yes, usually pitchers. Does football? Does basketball? Does soccer? Yes, they all do. You're discounting every other position in baseball and lumping all baseball players into one category to fit your flawed argument.

[weebo]

It's a shame that that type of athleticism isn't being used in a real sport. In beisbol he does that what a handful of times per game, for little 5 second bursts?

Nobody is saying there aren't good athletes in beisbol. We're talking about the game itself. These world class athletes are stationary or sitting like 98% of the time bc beisbol doesn't demand anymore from them. No other real sport comes close to demanding so little from it's players.

You know as much about baseball as you do about football.

[midnightpulp]

It's a shame that that type of athleticism isn't being used in a real sport. In beisbol he does that what a handful of times per game, for little 5 second bursts?

Nobody is saying there aren't good athletes in beisbol. We're talking about the game itself. These world class athletes are stationary or sitting like 98% of the time bc beisbol doesn't demand anymore from them. No other real sport comes close to demanding so little from it's players.

This is wrong, as I've pointed out. An MLB outfielder is the most overall demanding position in professional sports. You need to have an NBA tier vertical, NFL tier speed, wide receiver level route running instincts and hands, have a powerful and accurate arm, and be able to hit. Why do you need displays of "athleticism" every few seconds to keep you entertained? We already have basketball, football, and rugby to get your fix on that end. And maybe soccer, if you consider jogging around "athletic."

Also, you're getting an athletic "feat" every few seconds in baseball every time a pitcher throws a 90mph fastball, slider, or curve, with pinpoint accuracy. There's more people on Earth who can run real fast than who can do the former. To just consider running and jumping "athletic" is pretty narrow minded.

[FkLA]

You know as much about baseball as you do about football.

A besibol game lasts like 3-4 hours. How much time do you estimate one of those world class outfielders spends fielding+at bats+running bases? And by at bats I mean actually facing a pitch, not the 5 minute break in between each pitch.

[Raven]

How am I proving my point wrong when I'm talking about position players and AT? Does baseball have overweight athletes? Yes, usually pitchers. Does football? Does basketball? Does soccer? Yes, they all do. You're discounting every other position in baseball and lumping all baseball players into one category to fit your flawed argument.

soccer doesn't, at least professional one.

[manufan10]

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.

How does Boris Diaw stay fat? How did Shaq stay fat? How did Patty Mills stay a little chubby? Eddy Curry? Big Baby? Marc Gasol? Raymond Felton? Carmelo Anthony? Zach Randolph?

[Raven]

This is wrong, as I've pointed out. An MLB outfielder is the most overall demanding position in professional sports. You need to have an NBA tier vertical, NFL tier speed, wide receiver level route running instincts and hands, have a powerful and accurate arm, and be able to hit. Why do you need displays of "athleticism" every few seconds to keep you entertained? We already have basketball, football, and rugby to get your fix on that end. And maybe soccer, if you consider jogging around "athletic."

Also, you're getting an athletic "feat" every few seconds in baseball every time a pitcher throws a 90mph fastball, slider, or curve, with pinpoint accuracy. There's more people on Earth who can run real fast than who can do the former. To just consider running and jumping "athletic" is pretty narrow minded.

again you are going with the wrong mentality, it's not about who's athletic in the sport, but about who and why isn't.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Let me put it straight, I think baseball is boring until the playoffs. But you want to evaluate how more difficult baseball can be over basketball as a mental sport, the greatest bb of all time struck out his his 13 times in the majors and sucked donkey balls the two years he played. If you judged him by his performance with the sox, you would say he was a terrible athlete. But, yet on the bb court, he was the greatest ever.

case closed.

[Raven]

How does Boris Diaw stay fat? How did Shaq stay fat? How did Patty Mills stay a little chubby? Eddy Curry? Big Baby? Marc Gasol? Raymond Felton? Carmelo Anthony? Zach Randolph?

well for starters, they are not really fat they are not in perfect shape or are over the hill, they also don't play 6-7 games a week..



that doesn't look fat to me. you also have to account for natural athleticism and body structure. I mean baseball players are just plain fat, not adapted to their sport body..

[Raven]

Let me put it straight, I think baseball is boring until the playoffs. But you want to evaluate how more difficult baseball can be over basketball as a mental sport, the greatest bb of all time struck out his his 13 times in the majors and sucked donkey balls the two years he played. If you judged him by his performance with the sox, you would say he was a terrible athlete. But, yet on the bb court, he was the greatest ever.

case closed.

i don't think anyone was talking about that.

[midnightpulp]

again you are going with the wrong mentality, it's not about who's athletic in the sport, but about who and why isn't.

Everyone is athletic, even those fat players.

To possess the kind of hand-eye coordination and then have the actual strength to put that hand-eye coordination into action (i.e. swinging a bat) is an athletic feat. On the pitching side, it requires a great deal of ability to consistently throw accurately at 90 plus mph.

Running, jumping, getting heart rate up aren't the only examples of athleticism.

You might find baseball slow and boring, and I totally understand that line of argument, but to say a baseball player, at any position, isn't athletic is wrong.

You wouldn't say a shot-putter isn't athletic? And those guys are often fat, but they are definitely freak athletes in every sense of the word. Their sport just doesn't require this narrow minded definition of "athleticism" that we've locked ourselves into, thinking athleticism can only be activity that requires running and jumping.

[Pelicans78]

well for starters, they are not really fat they are not in perfect shape or are over the hill, they also don't play 6-7 games a week..



that doesn't look fat to me. you also have to account for natural athleticism and body structure. I mean baseball players are just plain fat, not adapted to their sport body..

That was Shaq in his early days.

[Raven]

Everyone is athletic, even those fat players.

To possess the kind of hand-eye coordination and then have the actual strength to put that hand-eye coordination into action (i.e. swinging a bat) is an athletic feat. On the pitching side, it requires a great deal of ability to consistently throw accurately at 90 plus mph.

Running, jumping, getting heart rate up aren't the only examples of athleticism.

You might find baseball slow and boring, and I totally understand that line of argument, but to say a baseball player, at any position, isn't athletic is wrong.

You wouldn't say a shot-putter isn't athletic? And those guys are often fat, but they are definitely freak athletes in every sense of the word. Their sport just doesn't require this narrow minded definition of "athleticism" that we've locked ourselves into, thinking athleticism can only be activity that requires running and jumping.

that's because it's not a sport.. it's really that simple.

[Raven]

That was Shaq in his early days.

still not fat.

[midnightpulp]

that's because it's not a sport.. it's really that simple.

Shotputting is a sport by every classic definition of the word.

[Pelicans78]

still not fat.

Its cause he got his ass in shape when he went to the Heat. He was motivated after the Lakers let him go and lost 30 pounds in the offseason.

[Raven]

Its cause he got his ass in shape when he went to the Heat. He was motivated after the Lakers let him go and lost 30 pounds in the offseason.

well, if he was a pitcher, he wouldn't need to get himself in shape.

[Pelicans78]

well, if he was a pitcher, he wouldn't need to get himself in shape.

He was still dominating when he out of shape for the Lakers.

[weebo]

soccer doesn't, at least professional one.

[Strange Love]

^Yeah, its like I said, we can play that game all day long. Cherry picking a few baseball players who are fat or out of shape its not really winning an arguement.

I can google "fat soccer players" and get some hits. Good for a laugh but doesn't prove .

[Venti Quattro]

Beisbol