re: Twittter user says baseball is hardest sport to play because elite athletes “struggle” ?

quote:

---

there is a reason all these QBs that were drafted, chose football, much more of a sure thing vs baseball.

---

John Elway, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray would have probably never made the Show. It's much easier to make a pro football roster than it is to make it into the MLB. That's what makes what Bo and Deion did so remarkable.

He's right. Think about it , if a great athelete had never played sports and showed up in 9th grade. They would find a spot for him on the football or basketball team, also track, soccer, etc. but would probably be too late to try to play baseball. Baseball takes way more skill development than other sports.

There was a show on ESPN several years ago called Sports Science or something like that. Based on all their testing and research, they said the hardest skill in sports was hitting Major League pitching.

I agree with the posters on the skill vs athleticism. We all have a fat buddy that is a scratch golfer or great pool player or can beat the pants off you at ping pong just standing there flat-footed and not moving, all while smoking and drinking.

They are skilled but they aren't athletic in terms of running, jumping, etc.

quote:

---

I remember some people saying Kyler Murray was dumb for choosing football over baseball because they see major league salaries and less of a toll on the body. I don't think those guys realize how hard it is to make the show in the first place, and the way contracts work, you basically get your signing bonus and then make dirt until arbitration years down the line before ever finally getting that big contract, and it's a big "if" you even get there. Being a #1 overall pick at QB in the NFL is, like you said, much more of a sure thing financially.

He entered the league with a 4 year $35 million contract as the #1 overall NFL pick. Paul Skenes got a record signing bonus of $9.7M as #1 overall MLB pick but how long you think it'll take him to get the next $25M?

---

exactly. being high pick in nfl is a sure thing with less future earnings comapred to superstar in baseball. but baseball is hard AF to even make it there


deion answered this very clearly.....when asked which was harder by shannon sharpe....he said no doubt baseball.....said that ball does some crazy things and the reason why he loved is so much was because he could never master it and it frustrated him


in baseball, cant just rely on athletic ability. certainly helps but lots more goes into it. its the hardest sport to train for and hardest to play.

that is what makes it so great.

quote:

---

Twittter user says baseball is hardest sport to play because elite athletes “struggle” ?

---

He's not wrong. But its not because an NFL QB throws like he's never held a baseball before.

Most pro athletes in other sports probably wouldn't look too terrible in baseball out in the field. But 95% of them would be made to look silly taking batting practice against a good high school or JUCO pitcher.

But you could take a college or pro baseball player and odds are pretty good that he could join in some practice drills with a college teams in other sports and at least be halfway decent.

The hand eye coordination needed to hit 80+ mph pitches that have movement on them is unlike anything else in sports. Not easy for even the best of athletes to pick up on if they haven't been baseball players for a long time. What else in sports can you be considered one of the best players in the game and still only succeed less than 30% of the time?

quote:

---

I agree that baseball is the hardest sport to play. Anytime a professional athlete can fail 70% of the time and be considered to have had a great year, you know it's hard.

---

It's only that way because the of how the game is set up. The rules of the game are what make it difficult. People say hitting a baseball is hard because even major leaguers "fail 70% of the time". They don't fail to hit it 70% of the time, they fail to get "a hit", meaning they don't get on base. That's two different things. Some type of contact is made on the majority of at bats. If they changed the rules of football and said you could have 15 players on defense, then it suddenly becomes much more difficult.

quote:

---

Most pro athletes in other sports probably wouldn't look too terrible in baseball out in the field. But 95% of them would be made to look silly taking batting practice against a good high school or JUCO pitcher.

But you could take a college or pro baseball player and odds are pretty good that he could join in some practice drills with a college teams in other sports and at least be halfway decent.

---

Well this "translation" argument ends up being similar to the NFL one.

Even within your example, 99% (maybe more) of MLB players could likely look better as an amateur on the basketball court, but would never, ever have the ability to play an NBA game. The NBA has, THEORETICALLY, more guys who could translate to the MLB.

There's a bit of projection in the discussion, but it's the same one at the end of the day.

quote:

---

Put a baseball player on a bike, tell him to ride up a mountain in the Tour de France and see how much he struggles.

---

You think baseball players, who are regular people who were once children, would look similar riding a bike than CJ Stroud throwing a baseball?

wtf.....they can ride bikes lol.



I will always venture that the average white dude is a better all around athlete than most people.....Sure, he may not dominate any one sport, but give him any ball, he can throw it appropriately with out disappointing is father. Throw him a ball, he'll catch it. Give him a stick, he'll swing it properly. Running around in fields/neighborhoods playing a different sport every day trained em.

football and basketball are more friendly to people that are blessed genetically. could ask michael jordan what he thinks. baseball is easily the hardest of the big 3 sports.

quote:

---

i'm imagining prime westbrook snatching homers as a center fielder then striking out on 3 pitches 4 times

---

So like BJ Upton.