The case for BABE RUTH as greatest ever sportsperformer

It is this search for the nature of golf that has meant Tiger has won `only` 14 majors. If he had changed nothing after the age of 19 he would maybe have won closer to 25

How frequently would 90mph curveballs be 'truly struck' in your esteemed opinion?

How frequently would 90mph curveballs be 'truly struck' in your esteemed opinion?

The point is not how many times, the point is there is no mystery how to do it. There is nothing so technical in it. It is `merely` a physical thing and not a mental and technically elusive thing....this is the difference in golf

every golger, even the very best such as Tiger know they do not understand the game

Strangely if Tiger had not been so clever as to realise that he didn`t understand golf, he would have won more majors.
It was his search for understanding that is dangerous, the golf swing is a gift and very elusive.
Tinker with it if you are fortunate to be talented at your peril

So squaring up 90mph curveballs, with a round bat, is easier than hitting a stationary ball with a flat surface. Fact.

If my mind was as messed up as yours, I wouldn't need these drugs I take!

yes it is easier.

i didn`t say it was easy, just that it is easier

Makes you wonder why the 150th best golfer in the world doesn't just go out and smash 50 home runs a year. He'd be a lot wealthier.

i didn`t say a golfer could play baseball. it is also easier to row a boat but many golfers would not be able to do that

Any chance of seeing the data on these imperfectly hit golf ballss btw? All I have so far is your word on it, and as I know you troll most of the time, you'll have to forgive me if I don't accept it as gospel.

What a pity the dikhead commonly known as - the dikhead did not know that NICKLAUS's  annotation was exactly what his 'secret' opinion was...

It would of helped him of course if knew the 1st thing about golf (and the golden bear ) never mind dikhead; keep on wittering..

What an eejit. He get's eejits a bad name. Pitchers can throw numerous types of pitches, which are beyond his comprehension, and find their precise target in the catcher's glove ninety feet away, yet according to this "dunderheid" there is no technical ability required

Even the worst golfers in the world know what the Nicklaus annotation was, yet golf's answer to Einstein didn't, despite quoting it

..... so if Keegan hit two of the ten true golf shots from the trillions hit by all golfers, can you please tell us who hit the other eight

Metinks a wet flannel has been ordered for the poor laddie..

it's just rounders with popcorn and hotdogs

It's way too complex for you, BB, that's for sure.

anybody mention Jesse Owens - sticking it up Hitler? und der master race.

anyone who thinks trying to hit a ball flying at u and changing direction out of the stands with a round face bat is easy is a complete idiot.

It's definitely not easy, but they are well protected so injury is unlikely. The actual technique is not easy but it's not as demanding as Golf or Tennis. Baseball requires two main attributes, great hand eye coordination and power, Golf and Tennis requires that and more, they require precision and accuracy, trying to get the ball into a small area without using too much or too little power, i.e. mastering the art of controlling the weight of shot. Baseball is a very regionalised sport, like Cricket and Rugby, very little competition worldwide.

I think the other bat and ball game Cricket is more technical and more dynamic as a sport than Baseball.

a lot of the negative attitude towards baseball here is due to anti americanism.........people in the british isles love to say that americans are morans, their sports are rubbish etc

Scandi repeatedly shows his complete ignorance about the game. It is NOT about how hard you can hit the ball, although there are players whose best asset is power. Just yesterday, the great Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki connected for his 4257th career hit (1278 in Japan, 2979 in MLB.) Of the near-3000 hits in the US, just 113 of them were home runs. He is a certain Hall of Famer.

very little competition worldwide.

Ignorance is bliss... Ever heard of South Asia?

4256 is the record for hits in MLB, hence the significance. The player who holds the record, Pete Ross, is barred from the HOF due to betting on the game. Of his 4256 hits, only 160 were home runs.

Pete Rose. Sick of the autocorrect on this fkn phone!

a lot of the negative attitude towards baseball here is due to anti americanism

oh no my momma and grandaddy would never forgive me

the only majors sports which i consider more or less perfect are tennis and golf. both are 100% skill based and its impossible to cheat officials.......performance enhancing drugs also have a limited effect.
soccer has so many flaws it would take me a year to document them here, although i do follow it....its a very enjoyable game to play.........i hate rugby, it is a brute of a game and excludes 99% of population from playing......american football is not for me......too many stoppages and the injury risk factor is off putting.......i like cricket but i can see why its not everyones cup of tea...........i do follow horseracing but i dont consider it a sport.........its more like an obsession with wanting to drive yourself insane

i never took notice of baseball untill i saw the documentary on ruth.......i have read up on the game since and i love its history and array of variables and stats. babe ruth seems like a complete legend........he totally changed the game.

Mikel, are you saying that Baseball is a more difficult, more dynamic and more technical sport to master and be great at than the likes of Golf and Tennis.

when i think about greatest sportsmen BABE RUTH is nowhere in my mind.

They're different. Tennis bores me sh1tless and golf barely counts as a sport, although it's probably my favourite game to bet on. Both are fairly elitist though, unlike baseball which typically draws from poorer societies, especially in Latin America.

Either way, it's a lot friggin harder to hit a baseball than a golf hall, despite lfc's as yet unsubstantiated assertions.

Nor mine zorro, but the people belittling his achievements have demonstrated they know next to feck all about baseball.

Tennis is mostly elitist in Britain, a lot of players actually come from poor backgrounds from relatively poor European countries, how is Golf barely a sport, is so much more skillful than Baseball.

How would you know? You've shown time and again that you know little to nothing about the game. How can you gauge the skill level required?

The fact you've just said Golf is barely and sport and then tell me that I know nothing about Baseball? Talk about pot kettle and black

Golf doesn't exactly require great athleticism, although considerably more than motor sport which you used as an example earlier. I love golf. It's barely a sport in the same way that snooker or darts are though.

Oh, and you do know nothing about baseball, as you continue to demonstrate.

I've watched Baseball but already said am no expert, the point you keep missing is though, that sportsmen from Golf and Tennis are playing more technical sports in a sport that is highly competitive the world over, as I've said many times, although I've asked you why you think Baseball is better or more technical and you haven't answered, you just keep fanboying the sport instead.

In what way have you proved tennis or golf require more skill? I've posted rough statistics that show exactly how difficult it is to hit a baseball.

As to which game is 'better,' surely that is subjective.

Returning a tennis ball against serve at 120+mph is not easy at all either.
Tennis is more skilful because it requires you to learn different ways of hitting the ball, different types of shots and holding the racquet, serving, forehand, backhand, one handed backhand, volleys, overhead smashes, drop shots, sliced shots, very dynamic and skillful.

I've not tried to dismiss any of them as being easy although a tennis player does not run the risk of serious injury should the ball hit him. Certainly not to the extent that a baseball player does.

They have nowhwere near the protection you hinted at earlier btw. A helmet,elbow pad and shin guard doesn't offer that much protection.

Doubt a tennis ball would do this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBQPk9Bva14

Go Brewers, btw!!

Stanton has elite power btw. Can't hit for sh!t though. Hitting baseballs is hard!

A hard ball doesn't and greater risk of injury doesn't make it more of a sport.

A hard ball doesn't what?

I didn't say greater risk makes it more of a sport either, so quit making sh!t up for me. I'd rather take my chances of returning the 120mph (or whatever you said) tennis ball than the 88mph fastball coming towards my face though.

stanton has hit some of the longest balls in history..........hes on 30m per year until he is 38!.........and some idiots call baseball rounders

then what point you making, why are you saying the ball in baseball is harder and their is a greater risk on injury, why is that relevant to the point in hand

You don't think that the risk of serious injury factors into the difficulty of hitting the ball whatsoever?

The hitter in baseball runs the risk of being hit every single time he faces a pitch. And baseballs hurt. The returner in tennis just has to worry about grunting and fist pumping.

Leave the ladies outta this please..

Yes it's difficult, but it's one aspect, Tennis and Golf requires many aspects in regards to how they hit a ball abd how hard, to succeed, Baseball just can't compare. You're drawing too much attention to something that relates little to an argument about what is a more skillful/technical/dynamic sport, sorry but Tennis/Golf win it hands down and btw there is just as big a risk of injury in horse Racing or Gymnastics.

golf and tennis are obviously 100% skill based games but just because baseball requires power does not mean THAT THE GUY HITTING IT IS NOT ONE OF TEH MOST SKILLFUL GUYS IN ALL SPORTS..........HE IS..........and we have not spoken about pitchers...........100% skill. FACT.

I've already explained to you that hitting the ball as hard a you can is NOT what hitting is about. Did you read the bit about Ichiro and Rose with their combined 8500 hits but just 275 or so home runs between them? They are recognised as the all- time 'hit kings' - not Ruth or Aaron or Bonds.

You don't have to hit a ball in hoss racing (which certainly used to have the highest fatality rate of any sport, although with the advance of 'xtreme sports' I'm sure this no longer applies) or gymnastics.

There is just much more to Golf and Tennis to be successful and much more competition to reach the top.

Baseball players fail to hit two out of every three times they go up to hit. Tennis players and golfers do not. Ergo, it's much harder to hit a baseball than a tennis or golf ball. Refute that, with statistics. TIA.

There is not more competition in golf or tennis btw. How many people even play tennis or golf professionally?

Keep in mind that 1200 new professional baseball players were drafted by MLB teams only last week. And another 1200 will be next year, and the year after...

Worldwide many more people try to get to the top going by the number of countries that participate in those sports. it's not about being saturated with pro's, the difficulty is making it there. Most people in many parts of the world could walk past the best Baseball player and not know who he was, if they walked past Tiger woods of Federer they would.

Lets see your figures. I'm the only one providing any numbers here, unless you count lfc's 'only 10 golf shots in a trillion are truly struck' as data.

the amount of people who play golf worldwide is overestimated...........america and the british isles yes..........in southern europe its played by tourists.........no one plays it in eastern europe and russia........northern europe not so much...........latin america, no one..........india/china/middle east NO ONE...........africa NO ONE.......poor counties of asia NO ONE

by the way, golf is my favourite sport by a long distance

I don't think scan even reads the posts or he is just thick. We have explained to him umpteen times about how technical baseball is but he just doesn't listen. We are wasting our time. Batters have to be able to hit the ball with diversity, just like tennis. They have to learn how to hit the ball in all manners and to different areas of the field, depending where the defenders, I'll call them that to keep it simple, are lined up. You go on about golfers having to hit a precise target, lol, a green fifty yards wide, whereas a pitcher has to throw the ball to a precise point over home plate, arranged prior in discussion, by signals, with the catcher. If he is even a baw hair out, the chances are the batter will hit it out the stadium. All three games, golf, tennis and baseball are highly technical sports. Regards fitness and exertions, tennis would be the biggest challenge, followed by baseball then golf. You are either completely ignorant of baseball, which is evident from your ridiculous comments, or you are just winding us up.

Braindeadjockeys, Check out the Ken Burns 10 DVD Box set entitled Baseball and I guarantee that you will be completely enthralled by it and thoroughly enjoy this historical documentary series.

will defo look at that mac........thanks

Most of the episodes are on youtube. I think just the 1970s one isn't, or wasn't when I last looked.

The only thing mightymac and mikael have done on this thread is be very rude and abusive to myself and lfc, and it's a choice between mikael and acquiesce as who's the most angriest poster
My whole point from the beginning is that sports like Tennis and Golf are more difficult because they are much more skillful and tecnical, this can't be doubted, yet mikael is upset because he loves Baseball so instead bangs on about how difficult it is to hit a ball rather than acknowledging that Tennis and Golf requires more than specialising in one aspect, they are simply far more dynamic. I feel like I'm telling someone their wife is unattractive and they are insisting she's not because they married her, love is blind people.
And Baseball is pretty much a niche sport because few countries play it, like Curling.

That's all i have to say as I've gone around the block to many times.

Thank you for the discussion and goodnight, sleep tight.

No worries mate, think you can get complete series on Amazon for about forty quid, but dvds are region 1 so you need multi region player. Honestly, if you liked the Babe Ruth documentary you will be blown away by this. All the greats featured. If not, I'll refund you, lol.

Noo he is having a go at Curling ffs

I've not been rude at all, unless you count telling the pair of you that you don't know what you're talking about as being rude.

You patently have no idea about the nuances involved in hitting a baseball, so why you continue to argue as if you do is beyond me. I've already told you I love golf. Yes, I prefer baseball but that's merely because I prefer team sports generally. I prefer football too. I also showed you that it is not a niche sport. There are more people playing baseball professionally than golf and tennis COMBINED.

Scan, how can you tell someone they are talking pish without coming across as rude. No offence intended but you just don't listen. By the way, the wife's an ugly b++++++

and it's a choice between mikael and acquiesce as who's the most angriest poster

phack off cant, I'm NOT angry I am honest


baseball though is not a phucking sport agreed, it's a glorified game of phucking rounders, why don't most Europeans, most south americans most of asia and most of Africa give a flying phuck about it, it's cos it's a sh1t game, not a sport a phucking game

bores the pants of me and last for a phucking eternity like test cricket

only easily pleased pr1cks with a low stimuli threshold think it's a sport

babe ruth FFS, deserves a good phucking laugh just for the phucking stupid name. have you even seen the size of the bloater FFS, that's not a sportsman it's an overweight yank swinging a bat.

golf is pompous sport. htf can anyone sit through that dribble even it requires actual talent.

BABE RUTH FFS

I would

Mikael, TMM and G2D do not understand why golf is so difficult.
Let me explan it to them.

Mikael mentions somewhere about a flat surface hitting a stationary ball.
But of course this is wrong, this is what really happens in the golf swing.

The golf club is not flat, it is angled. and different clubs have different degrees of angle and  clubs have different lengths of shaft.

Then again what people don`t realise about the golf club is that the head of the club is not directly in line with the bottom of the shaft, as in for example a baseball bat, or a tennis bat, or a cricket bat, or a snooker cue etc.
No it sits out from the bottom of the shaft, at an angle. this is very important.

Then again the head of the golf club is not flat , but angled, and quite small. But the size of the sweet spot is even smaller. Perhaps less than the size of the golf ball itself.

Now the golfer has to stand sideways to where he intends to hit the ball. This is in itself difficult, made moreso because if the golfer turns his body at address even slightly to where he wants to hit the ball then he is at risk of slicing the ball, etc

So the ball is at the golfers feet(by the way the high flight of the ball in baseball means the baseball swing is more natural and so easier but i digress)
The golfer then has to swing the club back and in so doing the face of the club, which he has aligned with the ball, has to turn away and up from the ball.
Now by about half way back the clubface will have turned 90* away from the ball and the club continues to the top.
At the same time the golfers body has to turn and his back will turn from sideways on to facing the target.

From this position the golfer has to return the face of the golfclub, with its very small sweet spot, at over 100 miles an hour to a small ball sitting on the ground at his feet.

Any slight deviation as his body turns, and as the club swings at 100 miles an hour will result in a mishit shot.

It is the combination of the shape of the club, the fact that the clubface is not directly at the bottom of the shaft but at an angle, the different types of club, the shape of the swing necessary to hit a ball on the ground, the speed of the swing, the turning of the clubface away from the ball..in a different and more difficult way to other sports, the necessity for the body to be aligned and yet turn away etc etc

There are other reasons also that make golf uniquely difficult, but that may give you some small idea of the difficulty

A lot of words to admit you have no idea about hitting a baseball.

And while a golf club may be angled, it's still fkn flat. A baseball bat is round.

Baseball lasts about 3 hrs, btw aquiesce. How long does a cricket test match last iyo?

And I'd rather be an easily pleased prick with low stimuli than someone who clearly has little knowledge of a game which is far too nuanced for them to understand.

Whether you agree with acquiesce or not, his posts are entertaining and straight to the point

More drugs in baseball.
If they are so skillful why do they need help?

Is it because it is a power game, not a skill game?  You have to hit hard, and throw hard.
You say a pitcher can throw a ball into a catcher's mitt.  But the target (the mitt) can and does move to catch the ball.

Drugs are rife in all sports. I don't think there is a drug available than can help you with your technical ability but certainly ones that can make one stronger and faster.

The catchers glove will only move behind home plate if the pitcher has a bad throw and misses his spot.

Baseball is a complex game and to fully understand and enjoy it one has first got to know the Rules. American Football is another great game that gets mauled in this country simply because people don't know or want to know the Rules. Stick 500 on a baseball match and believe me one learns the Rules fast

I don't think American football is a great game.
The pitch (or field) is very narrow.
The actions stops for TV ads.
Teams have 45 players.
They call if football but how many can kick a ball?

One, the kicker.

... sorry, 2

Also the punter

I hate Cricket but if I actually understood the game and the Rules, I probably wouldn't.

The pitch is wider than minimum width of a soccer pitch

Tv ads are only shown when game stops.

Teams only have 11 players on pitch

I wouldn't watch any sport if there was no betting

stopped watching boxing after Hagler got the bad decision. I was a leonard fan but saw that as a draw. Haglar retired after that fight. so did i.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEcHZAXSBzc


But it's ok, we don't understand the nuances of the game

^^^^^^^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p6IAFotSDo&t=4m06s

People like different things Scandi. I absolutely loathe American Football, possibly because I don't understand it. I would never tell people that the players have no skill, technique or dynamism, though, since I don't know what I'm talking about.

You continually display that you barely have a clue about the game of baseball. You think it's primarily about how hard you can hit the ball when I've shown you that it is far from being about that. The all-time 'hit king' Pete Rose managed a home run just 160 times out of the 15,890 plate appearances he made, during a 20+ year career. That's less than 1% of the time.

The strange thing about golf is that it becomes more difficult the better you are at it.
How can this be?
Well all of us who love the game can bumble our way around the course and at the end of it find, after 2 or 3 long putts have gone in or a chip in from off the green that we have got a reasonable score, perhaps 80? or even less.
But in those 80 shots not one will have been played right, or struck right and almost nothing will have been correct or beautiful about our game. And that will go on for ever and still we will love golf.

However the very best players are playing almost literally a different game. A pro. is able at his very best to hit his shots long and true and pure and with great power and finesse. And this is what he has to try and do on all shots every time he plays.
And it is only when you have the ability to do this that the game becomes very very difficult.

They play a game with which we are not familiar.

I know enough, and it just compared to skilled sports

themightymac
(1) The pitch is wider than minimum width of a soccer pitch
(2) TV ads are only shown when game stops.

(1) Soccer pitch width is from 45-90 meters (49-100 yards)
American football pitch width is 160 feet or 53 1/3 yards.
Or in plain English, an American football pitch is fractionally wider than the minimum soccer/football pitch.

(2) Your post should probably read "TV ads are only shown when the game stops for TV ads"

The two points are 100% accurate as was the third.