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| quote: | Originally posted by psymon.d
I'll agree that the skill part is undeniably there, but it's the equivalent to any finesse skill in any other sport--you train to do something, you [generally] get better at it, and the talented go further than the less talented. you argue that pitches change wildly and that's true, but whatever pitch is made, the ball is still coming towards you within a *relatively* similar window of space at a *relatively* similar angle (with the batter positioned in a *relatively* similar stance). With the majority of the other sports being discussed, there may not always be such a minute allowance for error, but the conditions are almost never as reoccurring as they would be in a baseball pitching scenario, forcing/requiring a much wider range of motion and applied skill to conquer any given situation. baseball batters/pitchers may possess a high level of finesse, sure, but I feel like other athlete's (not to mention, in almost all positions) aggregate level of finesse trumps them simply for the completely dynamic moments of play. |
You bring up good points, but while the pitcher is attempting to throw the ball in a very small window, the batter doesn't know where that window is, and the strike zone is essentially from around the navel to just below the knees, and extends about 2 feet wide. There are also about 6 or 7 commonly thrown pitches, all of which have different action on them with variable speed. Add all of that with the fact that the batter has to begin their swing when the ball is still about 25 feet away to even make contact. They have fractions of a second to react, and need to take into consideration all those different factors in such a small amount of time. Yes, it's always a guy throwing a ball within a certain window of space, but if you've ever stood in a batters box against someone throwing even 90+, you'd know that it's certainly not a matter of simple repetition that allows for success. Reading pitches is incredibly difficult, and is often the demise of many prospective minor league players. They can demolish a 95mph fastball traveling in a straight line, but you throw them an 82mph curve and they don't even come close.
I'm not detracting from any other sports, and I'm not saying that any other sports are easy, I'm just saying that baseball is most certainly not easy by any means. I think it's a definite testament to the difficulty of hitting in baseball as it is considered quite successfull to get a hit in only 3 out of every 10 at bats.
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| quote: | Originally posted by OrangestO
This isn't about physics, this is about waves.
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Last edited by srussell0018 on Jun-15-2011 at 22:55
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