Sport

[wwjoeld]

Sure you need good reaction skills to play baseball, but you haven't stepped on to the rugby field.

When you have ten feet seperating the you and your opponent. From the time of your teammate touching the ball, thats when your opponent starts running at you full tilt. So the ball still has to travel through the air, get to my hands and i have to make the desicion to pass, or to take it myself. So i have to calculate what is happening all around me.

A fat pitcher like david wells has to only worry about the runners and making sure he throws the ball as over the plate. Those players are born with those arms, and thats why you see players like Mark Macguire and David Wells being fat and lazy.

I respect both games of baseball and basketball, but i still think you need more skill and brains to play rugby.

 

[havoc]

No way man, you may have to be born to play baseball, but anyone who wants to learn to run and spend some time in a weight room can play Rugby. awareness isn't that hard of a skill to learn, you look around and see what you see. In baseball you got 1/10th of a second to decide 100 factors and then act upon them. With rugby the only decisions to be made are, do i catch the ball, or step out of the way.

Pitchers my sometimes have a beer gut, but they are athletes none the less, to throw a 100 pitches takes stamina, to be able to place that ball withen a 1x2 foot area consistly takes lots of skill.

Hell i could make an argument that the umpires are smarter then rugby players

 

[wwjoeld]

and you dont think jogging and sprinting for 30 minutes straight doesnt take stamina. OUtfielders just have to stand there and pick there nose and till the ball comes there way.

And you siad your self, rugby players work for thier skill and talent unlike baseball players who just have to feed them selves nachos and keep there inhalers near bye.

I bet you we have to react just as fast if not faster then in baseball, 100 percent of the game, not only when we are at bat.

 

[Geronimo]

Baseball is more then just throwing a ball sixty feet. For the pitchers, it is a matter of determining what to throw. Where to throw it and what is your desired outcome. Pop-up, grounder or a strike out. It all depends on a lot of things besides just simpling throwing it.

For your fielders you have to know and determine a lot of minor details. Where should I position myself, What type of pitcher and pitches are being thrown. What is the batters' strenght and weakness and where does he tend to hit it.

There are a lot of thought processes for the batter as well. Baseball is a lot of preparing and then natural reaction. if you ever watch a professional baseball game in person, you would be able to notice these details but TV is a bad format to watch a game.

 

[wwjoeld]

That still is no comparison to the thinking that goes on in a rugby game.

When i get the ball, i have to decide in a split second if i will pass left, right, if i will miss the guy next to me and hit the guy next to him, if i will pull a switch with my center and if i will kick. But i also have to think what kind of kick i will do. Grubber, punt, up and under. What to do, it all depends on each situation. I have to watch where there fullback is, where there centers are, how fast the forwards are coming, see if the oppisite stand off is going to hit me, i have to watch what my backs are doing and always know where they are.

On defense i have to see where everyone of their players are. I have to predict what their stand-off will do, i have to loop with their players, i have to always be talking to my players.

As a kicker also, i have to factor in everything from wind to position of their players and where i am on the field. I have to be able to kick in three different styles with accuracy and perfection. I have seen a base ball player throw over 100 miles per hour, but have you seen a rugby player kick a ball 60 plus yards. More glorious than any pitch.

We perfect everything we do, i know some props(big guys for you rugby illiterate) kick just as well as i do. A baseball player only has to perfect his task on the field. The whole team does tackling drills, the whole team does passing drills, we all do fielding, we all practise as a team. We are the most well rounded sport in the world. Show me a pitcher who can play shortstop.

Again, i respect the sport of baseball, but again, you need athletic skill to play. Along with stamina and a good arm.

 

[manda]

rugby by far
scariest game on earth

 

[BunkWild]

Baseball now thats a joke, i have a couple friends that play. and yea they're in pretty good shape but come one. how hard is it to actually play? the only hard positions are in the infield where it takes some actual skill to play. hand eye cordination and thats about it. you dont have to run anywhere just throw the ball far and your set.

ill give them some credit, it is hard to hit a ball that is going 100mph but how many pitchers actually pitch that hard consistently? none. they all pitch curve balls (pedro) and other pitches that mess you up when you go to hit it.

overall baseball is way easier than both basketball and rugby, however basketball comes out over top.

if you want to play rugby move across the 'lake' cause obviously rugby is considered a sport over there. where they also consider soccer a sport. that must mean something. cause soccer is the best of all!!

 

[Geronimo]

Show me a pitcher who can play shortstop.

How about I show you a pitcher you was a great fielder. Here There are a lot more but I figure this one catchs them all. Dont let the size fool you either.

Well my previous post was just expanding a few general thoughts about baseball, I do respect rugby. Not by cup of tea, as it appears baseball is not yours. Heck, I am surprised someone didnt bring up soccer or football either. To each their own huh. Except hockey of course, just a bunch of no-brain brawlers

 

[wwjoeld]

i said shortstop. Most forwards can play backs in rugby.

I will rephrase the question. Show me David Wells play shortstop, or even Mark Macguire fo that matter. I bet you Pedro couldnt even run 50 yards without keeling over.

 

[MDowdey]

why couldnt David wells or Mark Magwire play shortstop? theres no reason they couldnt... just because your a big dude does not mean you are slow, lazy and stupid.

YOU HIT A 450FT HOME RUN OVER THE WALL AT FENWAY AND THEN WE WILL TALK ABOUT SKILL.

Now i will say this...every sport(minus hockey and soccer), being played in the United States, are paying there players way too much, that is why you have fat lazy retards in those sports.

md

 

[Geronimo]

Ok wwjoeld, I will look thru my books and find a few but till then.

Mark McGuire use to be a pitcher. A really good one at that till one eventfull day when he came to Alaska to play summer ball. Since then he was Big Mac. Yes, the world can thank Alaska for something to do with sports.

 

[vonnagy]

yep, i might be rugby fan but i am even a huger baseball fan!

go braves! - though they make me cry most o the time (aside: nz almost got their first major leaguer through braves association but he was never quite good enough)

but don't you think comparing any two sports is a bit like comparing apple and oranges?

I guess i wouldn't have responded to this post at if the original poster hadn't called rugby 'gay'. Just kinda provoked a visceral response from me being a kiwi. If you open the papers here, its 92% rugby, 7% advertisements (of which 50% is rugby), and 1% actually news :mrgreen:

 

[wwjoeld]

you like baseball too, what is this world coming to.
Oh yeah....you are an All Blacks Fan. J/K

I am an Australia fan.

I wish we got that much coverage over here in Canada.

 

[manda]

Rugby is big here but not as big as our 2 other football codes, League and Aussie Rules. You are far more likely to see a rugby league game on 3 times a week than a rugby union one.

 

[havoc]

Every position in baseball requires a different set of skills. Mark McGuire is a big dude yes, and he played 1st base. (He is a gold glove winner several times over at the position as well) A shortstop and a first baseman are similar positions. Sure a short stop takes more grounders, but a 1st baseman is responsible forthe outcome of every grond play. He is the finish to more plays than anyone else on the field. The quickness and flexibility required to be a good 1st baseman is extroridinary. You can rarely count on a perfect throw to the base, its up to you to contort your body enough to catch the ball while at the same time planting your foot on the bag and not moving it.
I have seen almost every 1st baseman make incredible plays, often at the risk of personal injury. You may think 1st is an easy position, but it really isn't.
As for David Wells, I am sure he could adequatly play any position on the field. Like any sport you put your peopkle in the position that best helps the team. You don't see 300 pound 6'5" wide receivers in Football. They are on the front line blocking, the 165 pound 5'9' guy with quick feet is going to be your reciever.
As we have recently seen any loser with a high school diploma can play pro basketball with god given talent. It takes Talent and time to develop into a productive major league player.