4 ms·

Let's see... 1.) You need a shit-load of people to play baseball anything like for-real. At minimum 15-20 people for two teams. Pretty tough to do as a kid,

by douche 11y ago

Let's see... 1.) You need a shit-load of people to play baseball anything like for-real. At minimum 15-20 people for two teams. Pretty tough to do as a kid, unless you're free to roam free all over town to gather a crew, which approximately 0% of kids have license/protection from CPS to do. 2.) You need a big enough area for a baseball diamond, where you don't have to worry about knocking out a window with a foul ball or an errant throw. Mostly, you aren't allowed to use the actual baseball fields to just play pickup. Compare with soccer or football, where any old open area is good enough, or basketball, which needs a hoop but probably takes the least space. 3.) Everybody needs at least a baseball glove. You also need a bat and a ball or two. Compare with sports that really don't require any specialized equipment, like soccer, football(two-hand-touch or recess-tackle style), and basketball. 4.) If you live in the northern half of the US, the season for playing baseball is almost exclusively during the summer months, when school isn't in session. 5.) Baseball on TV is maybe a half-step better than watching paint dry, and you have to pay for the privilege. Since they cleaned up the steroids, it's boring as hell.

agumonkey 11y ago
Makes me wonder why did this sport ever become so famous. It's like cricket, except there are two large competing sports (football and basketball, even hockey and tennis somehow).
- yareally 11y ago
  Baseball, in its original form (circa 1860s and 70s) was played with a softer makeshift ball and a modified axe handle and no gloves. It was an activity a small town could play together as well as a community event where two nearby communities would come together to play. I believe the American Civil War played a part in spreading it thoughout the country in a time where news didn't travel as fast. Basketball also came after baseball and not sure if it was quite as casual in its early form. My brothers play for a historic reenactment team of that era and the game resembles present day softball than baseball with its casual play. There's players on their team age 18 to 70 and most of the teams they play are composed of people in smaller towns doing what they did 140 years ago, today. One of the more interesting games they hold every year is played on the statehouse lawn against our state representatives after work.
  - jlgaddis 11y ago
    I'm not a big fan of baseball anymore but we watched one of these "historic" games a few years ago at a casino/resort we stay at often. It was pretty neat to watch, although it took me a bit to understand it as the rules then were significantly different from present day rules.
    - yareally 11y ago
      Oh yeah, they're quite different. I don't believe they really count strikes unless you swing and no ground rule double means that if a ball gets caught in a hole or brush, the runners almost always end up with an in the park home run.
- Someone 11y ago
  Basketball and tennis are high-tech sports in the sense that they require a carefully prepared playing area and balls that bounce predictably. That makes it much harder to improvise a playing field than is the case for baseball, cricket (needs a fairly small area where the ball can bounce off, and having an unpredictable bounce is considered a plus there), or, especially, soccer. To play soccer, the minimum you need is an old newspaper or old rags that you shape into a ball-like form, something to tie around it to make it keep that shape, and anything that can be placed on the ground to indicate where one should imagine the goal posts to be, such as the coats of four players, marks drawn in the sand, etc.
coldicetea 11y ago
Interestingly though, lacrosse is gaining popularity and hits most of those points as well: 1. It's difficult to play without least a couple midfielders, a goalie, and some defenders 3. Everyone needs at least a lacrosse stick, and a ball (although lacrosse balls are small and easy to lose, so it's better to have a few on hand) 4. Same It's also one of the most expensive sports to play, and few schools (high schools at least) subsidize it like they do with American Football.
- kbar13 11y ago
  anecdotal but the lax bros in my childhood come from some of the richer families in town
bluedevil2k 11y ago
I grew up playing wiffleball 2 vs 2, with ghost runners in a friend's backyard where the patio was 1st and the garden was 3rd. If you want to play a sport, when you're young you can make it happen. Kids playing soccer in Brazil don't need an 11 X 11 game with a regulation ball and goal
thomaskcr 11y ago
When we were kids we played with as few as 3 per team. Self pitching, ghost runners (if you toss to 3rd base before the runner reaches 2nd it's an out), etc On the space side, we played where ever - you just needed a place to put down some bases or some trees that are relatively evenly spaced in 4 corners. We made it more fun by playing with crappy tennis rackets and tennis balls we "popped". You're right about "pure" baseball, but kids create their own ways to play games and baseball can be changed enough to be fun and fast paced.
graeme 11y ago
Most of these sound good, but aren't true. If you go to poor countries where baseball is popular, you'll see people practicing in the street, with whatever makeshift ball and bat the can find. I saw Cubans practicing with sticks and balls of paper. However, it's difficult to get adults to organize that kind of thing. I wonder if the fact that kids need adults to drive them is a factor. That last bit is speculation. What's true is that numbers 1-3 aren't really a bar to practice, if the kids actually care.
- richmarr 11y ago
  Is baseball is a thing elsewhere? Aside from Japan, and now apparently Cuba, I haven't heard of it being played anywhere. Most of the world plays football (soccer for the US folks here).
  - graeme 11y ago
    A lot of Latin American countries play it, far more intensely than Americans do. http://espn.go.com/mlb/latinosrise/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2350816 http://espn.go.com/mlb/latinosrise/columns/story?columnist=s...
Symbiote 11y ago
Does anyone play cricketin the USA? It solves some of your problems - you can see poor kids in India playing it in alleyways pretty much the same way rich kids in England do - and, I think, it's a bit easier to hit the ball. Plus breaking for tea is part of the game...
- wycx 11y ago
  You really need only 2 people to play backyard cricket and it scales well with increasing numbers from there. You only need a bat-shaped object, a ball and something to use as the wicket. Objects from the local environment make excellent stand in fielders. I think bowling competently is the barrier for new players.
  - emidln 11y ago
    You only need 2 people for backyard whiffle ball. I played 1 v 1 a lot because even if you joined several baseball teams, that could only get you 2-3 hours of baseball a day anytime except Saturday. 1v1 baseball generally required more work since a well hit baseball covers more ground. We also played "pepper" which was a bunting game with at least two kids. "Hotbox" and "burnout", a base running drill/game and a slightly sadistic game of catch, were two more we could play with 2+. I also practiced pitching solo via a brick wall.
informatimago 11y ago
And let's not forget smartphones that are much funnier than hitting a ball and running!

by douche 11y ago

agumonkey 11y ago

Makes me wonder why did this sport ever become so famous. It's like cricket, except there are two large competing sports (football and basketball, even hockey and tennis somehow).

yareally 11y ago
Baseball, in its original form (circa 1860s and 70s) was played with a softer makeshift ball and a modified axe handle and no gloves. It was an activity a small town could play together as well as a community event where two nearby communities would come together to play. I believe the American Civil War played a part in spreading it thoughout the country in a time where news didn't travel as fast. Basketball also came after baseball and not sure if it was quite as casual in its early form. My brothers play for a historic reenactment team of that era and the game resembles present day softball than baseball with its casual play. There's players on their team age 18 to 70 and most of the teams they play are composed of people in smaller towns doing what they did 140 years ago, today. One of the more interesting games they hold every year is played on the statehouse lawn against our state representatives after work.
- jlgaddis 11y ago
  I'm not a big fan of baseball anymore but we watched one of these "historic" games a few years ago at a casino/resort we stay at often. It was pretty neat to watch, although it took me a bit to understand it as the rules then were significantly different from present day rules.
  - yareally 11y ago
    Oh yeah, they're quite different. I don't believe they really count strikes unless you swing and no ground rule double means that if a ball gets caught in a hole or brush, the runners almost always end up with an in the park home run.
Someone 11y ago
Basketball and tennis are high-tech sports in the sense that they require a carefully prepared playing area and balls that bounce predictably. That makes it much harder to improvise a playing field than is the case for baseball, cricket (needs a fairly small area where the ball can bounce off, and having an unpredictable bounce is considered a plus there), or, especially, soccer. To play soccer, the minimum you need is an old newspaper or old rags that you shape into a ball-like form, something to tie around it to make it keep that shape, and anything that can be placed on the ground to indicate where one should imagine the goal posts to be, such as the coats of four players, marks drawn in the sand, etc.

coldicetea 11y ago

Interestingly though, lacrosse is gaining popularity and hits most of those points as well: 1. It's difficult to play without least a couple midfielders, a goalie, and some defenders 3. Everyone needs at least a lacrosse stick, and a ball (although lacrosse balls are small and easy to lose, so it's better to have a few on hand) 4. Same It's also one of the most expensive sports to play, and few schools (high schools at least) subsidize it like they do with American Football.

kbar13 11y ago
anecdotal but the lax bros in my childhood come from some of the richer families in town

bluedevil2k 11y ago

I grew up playing wiffleball 2 vs 2, with ghost runners in a friend's backyard where the patio was 1st and the garden was 3rd. If you want to play a sport, when you're young you can make it happen. Kids playing soccer in Brazil don't need an 11 X 11 game with a regulation ball and goal

thomaskcr 11y ago

When we were kids we played with as few as 3 per team. Self pitching, ghost runners (if you toss to 3rd base before the runner reaches 2nd it's an out), etc On the space side, we played where ever - you just needed a place to put down some bases or some trees that are relatively evenly spaced in 4 corners. We made it more fun by playing with crappy tennis rackets and tennis balls we "popped". You're right about "pure" baseball, but kids create their own ways to play games and baseball can be changed enough to be fun and fast paced.

graeme 11y ago

Most of these sound good, but aren't true. If you go to poor countries where baseball is popular, you'll see people practicing in the street, with whatever makeshift ball and bat the can find. I saw Cubans practicing with sticks and balls of paper. However, it's difficult to get adults to organize that kind of thing. I wonder if the fact that kids need adults to drive them is a factor. That last bit is speculation. What's true is that numbers 1-3 aren't really a bar to practice, if the kids actually care.

richmarr 11y ago
Is baseball is a thing elsewhere? Aside from Japan, and now apparently Cuba, I haven't heard of it being played anywhere. Most of the world plays football (soccer for the US folks here).
- graeme 11y ago
  A lot of Latin American countries play it, far more intensely than Americans do. http://espn.go.com/mlb/latinosrise/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2350816 http://espn.go.com/mlb/latinosrise/columns/story?columnist=s...

Symbiote 11y ago

Does anyone play cricketin the USA? It solves some of your problems - you can see poor kids in India playing it in alleyways pretty much the same way rich kids in England do - and, I think, it's a bit easier to hit the ball. Plus breaking for tea is part of the game...

wycx 11y ago
You really need only 2 people to play backyard cricket and it scales well with increasing numbers from there. You only need a bat-shaped object, a ball and something to use as the wicket. Objects from the local environment make excellent stand in fielders. I think bowling competently is the barrier for new players.
- emidln 11y ago
  You only need 2 people for backyard whiffle ball. I played 1 v 1 a lot because even if you joined several baseball teams, that could only get you 2-3 hours of baseball a day anytime except Saturday. 1v1 baseball generally required more work since a well hit baseball covers more ground. We also played "pepper" which was a bunting game with at least two kids. "Hotbox" and "burnout", a base running drill/game and a slightly sadistic game of catch, were two more we could play with 2+. I also practiced pitching solo via a brick wall.

informatimago 11y ago

And let's not forget smartphones that are much funnier than hitting a ball and running!