What is the appeal of baseball?

[OGPhilly]

[eric]

Well it depends on what you mean by "understand" baseball.

[OGPhilly]

When I say you don't understand, I mean you seem to think the entirety of the game is about trying to see how far one can hit a ball.

[eric]

Obviously that was hyperbole

[OGPhilly]

Ok so do you or do you not think there is strategy? Was this thread a serious question or were you trolling?

[eric]

Both. I'm trolling because I think it's the dumbest shitty sport to watch on TV ever. But I'm genuinely interested in why it's appealing to you guys.

[OGPhilly]

[eric]

[Bill_in_Bethlehem]

well at the highest level, the object of the game is to score more runs than the other team over the course of 9 innings, each inning consisting of three outs.

so some teams may try to simply hit home runs, and that strategy can be effective in small parks (see: right field, yankee stadium)

other teams try to "manufacture" runs, a strategy consisting of trying for smaller, but more frequent hits, as well as "stealing" bases (see: sf giants)

depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, the strategy will vary. the higher the level of play, the more intricate the strategy becomes.

ive been watching baseball my whole life and still dont understand half of the strategic decisions that are made in today's game, especially in the playoffs. every single pitch requires a number of calculations - what type of pitch to throw, how many balls/strikes in the count, how many outs, how many runners on base, who is on deck (are they right or left handed?), what is the score, what is the strength of the current batter, do you have a pitcher in the bullpen that would be better off facing this hitter? etc etc...

so, like most sports, the higher up you get the more complicated it becomes. if you like the sport you get into it and learn about the nuances and it becomes exciting. if its just "meh" to you and you dont even care to make the effort to learn more about it, then you probably end up thinking its boring and just a bunch of guys slapping at a ball with a stick.

then again i bet some of the guys who will say baseball is exciting will say that soccer sucks for the same reason that op doesnt think baseball is that cool

[Bill_in_Bethlehem]

oh, you were trolling...