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What I really like about baseball is from playing a season of D-3 college baseball and having a very strong appreciation for the game itself and how hard it is to be great.
The biggest thing I like about the sport baseball is that most of the sport is a "learned skill." With that, a player can improve their skills and regardless of age grind it out and get to the bigs at a late age.
Case and point, last night 33 year old RICH THOMPSON appeared in a gmae for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has 1 career at bat and hasn't palyed in a MLB gmae since 2004 with the Kansas City Royals. To me, that is what makes the game. It isn't the stars like Jeter, Pujols, Hamilton, etc. The guys hanging by a thread and rolling a decade in the minors for a slice of the bigs.
To me, I find that really admirable. Keep in mind almost all MLB players were the best of the best in middle school, high school, college, etc. And as they grow as people, at some point mos tof the guys have to accept a limited roll and be a precieved humble bench guy. My favorite player - Eric Hinske was a guy that wa amazing here in Wisconsin growing up, goes to Arkansas for Colelge, does very well and is still a 17 round pick and goes from trades to the A's, Cubs, and Blue Jays. He has a brief run as a notable player with getting ROY, then has to accept and adjust being a roll player and figure out how to be productive when getting sporatic at bats with no consistency.
I don't want to down play how mentally difficult that transition is for a lot of these players. In my opinion, that should be something noteworthy.
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Baseball is different that football. Football there is no minor league, a torn ACL usually ends a fringe player's chances at the NFL. Football relies on speed, agility, balance, strength ,etc. All of those are born talents that can be honed and improved, but those talents likely cannot be DOUBLED by any particular athlete but can improve an athlete 10-20%.
In football, Tommy Maddox stories do not happen very often at all. Theya re great when they do, but in general, baseball gives you a story of a finge player working his way through, almost every year.
The biggest thing I like about the sport baseball is that most of the sport is a "learned skill." With that, a player can improve their skills and regardless of age grind it out and get to the bigs at a late age.
Case and point, last night 33 year old RICH THOMPSON appeared in a gmae for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has 1 career at bat and hasn't palyed in a MLB gmae since 2004 with the Kansas City Royals. To me, that is what makes the game. It isn't the stars like Jeter, Pujols, Hamilton, etc. The guys hanging by a thread and rolling a decade in the minors for a slice of the bigs.
To me, I find that really admirable. Keep in mind almost all MLB players were the best of the best in middle school, high school, college, etc. And as they grow as people, at some point mos tof the guys have to accept a limited roll and be a precieved humble bench guy. My favorite player - Eric Hinske was a guy that wa amazing here in Wisconsin growing up, goes to Arkansas for Colelge, does very well and is still a 17 round pick and goes from trades to the A's, Cubs, and Blue Jays. He has a brief run as a notable player with getting ROY, then has to accept and adjust being a roll player and figure out how to be productive when getting sporatic at bats with no consistency.
I don't want to down play how mentally difficult that transition is for a lot of these players. In my opinion, that should be something noteworthy.
--
Baseball is different that football. Football there is no minor league, a torn ACL usually ends a fringe player's chances at the NFL. Football relies on speed, agility, balance, strength ,etc. All of those are born talents that can be honed and improved, but those talents likely cannot be DOUBLED by any particular athlete but can improve an athlete 10-20%.
In football, Tommy Maddox stories do not happen very often at all. Theya re great when they do, but in general, baseball gives you a story of a finge player working his way through, almost every year.
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