Baseball
 

We had the a major league baseball game here in Australia Saturday 22/3/3014 , this was the second major league game in over 100 hundred years.
The game was between the LA Dodgers and the Arizona Diamonbacks with another tonight , now I know this will receive the odd comment but boy was it boring , watched about 10 (ten) minutes and wow paint drying would be more fun to watch.
The batters do not even take a swing at the ball and 3 strikes they walk off , get millions of dollars for nothing
Regards
Oz

Not all of them make millions of dollars but they do get paid well for a game.

I'm sure if your rugby team came over here, a lot of folks would be confused about the game too.

At least you can give a honest opinion of the game since you did watch for a bit :beer2:

They showed a bit of footage of members of the Diamondbacks watching a Rugby game and they were gobsmacked to say the least
No helmets , no giant padding , no postulating , no 30 seconds then another breather just blokes playing a hard game

:biggrin2: Looks like our mate from the land down under just found out why we call it the great "past time". It is a rather passive game, but we have enjoyed it for decades and have cheered to watch our greats play it. I remember watching the Cincinnati Reds play George Foster (OF), Johnny Bench (C), Ken Griffey, Sr., Dave Concepcion (SS), Joe Morgan, etc...in the late 70's---a lot of fun!!

I suppose it is an acquired interest and you might find it more fun to play than to watch. When I was little, I didn't fully understand the game myself and found it so hard to play. In our little leagues, they sent me up to the plate to bat and there were 9 of my opponents out there and only me, but I had a weapon--my bat. I ran to each base with my trusty bat and whenever they threw the ball to the base or if anyone got in my way with that ball, I came charging while swinging my bat! Going to 2nd base seemed like a waste of time, so knowing that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, I ran from first to third--besides, there was only one opponent in my way then, the pitcher.:biggrin2:

Take you a sheila along to the game, with a couple of hot dogs, relax and enjoy the game! The game was a lot more fun for fans when players didn't bankroll so much, when a sport was a sport.

Cub Cadet 123

:Morning::Morning: CC123, have you ever been to Crosley Field? I remmeber going with my Dad and Grandfather in the late 40's thru the early 60's. We used to ride an excursion train from McArther, OH to Ciny during baseball season and to Cleveland, OH during football season. My Grandfather was a RR Engineer and my Dad was a Brakeman for the DT&I and they got free tickets for the train ride. I also remmeber, everytime the
Redlegs switched beer sponsors, my Grandfather would switch also. :American Flag 1:

it's lot's more enjoyable when you have a home team to root for or a team you grew up watching as a kid ! GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:Morning: That is a very true statement. I have been a Reds and Browns fan all my life. I have also been known to root for the Indians and Bengals, but not if they are playing the Reds or the Browns. :American Flag 1:

All apologies Ozcubowner--sorry to hi-jack your thread.

No unfortunately, I haven't dbuck. I grew up watching them and admiring them. There is something nostalgic about the magic of that game. You saw some of the greats play ball if you watched it during the 40's through 60's--Ted Williams, Stan (the man) Musial, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and the list goes on and on. That was well before my time and I look at the great era, realizing what fun that must have been to go to the ball park! How lucky you were to ride the rails and go to the games. Some of my relation is from Lockland and Redding, OH and I need to take some time away to catch a game--though, I wouldn't recognize any of the players since I left my interest of baseball in '84 when they went on strike and me as a young boy, left disillusioned. Oh, did you ever see the round barn (turnstyle ?) in Cincy? I have seen pictures of it, but I never saw it.

Thanks for sharing such a great story dbuck,

Cub Cadet 123

Hijack away ,your comments make interesting reading , one thing I did note in my brief exposure was the commentator remarked how they previously scored 30/40 home runs in a season now if they get 15 thats a good year , maybe they need a good cricket coach
Regards
Oz

:Morning: You are Welcome. Been thru the turnstyle several times. Not to long ago one was up for sale. :American Flag 1:

Perhaps if you knew more of the history of baseball, then you might find it more interesting and enjoy the game more. Some great players to read about are: George (Babe) Ruth-called his own home run by pointing where he would hit it that he promised for a little boy in the hospital, Tyrus Cobb-perhaps the meanest player ever in the game, but a great hitter, he would intentionally slide into base with his cleats up to kick the opponent, Cy Young-fabulous pitcher and has a pitcher's award named after him "The Cy Young Award", Jackie Robinson-first black player in professional baseball who broke a lot of barriers to play--they made a movie about it, Yogi Berra-perhaps a better coach than he was a player, his trite sayings are known as Yogisms, Ted Williams-held several batting titles and often had a batting average over 400, which is outstanding, Willie Mays-held the home run record for a very long time, Pete Rose-broke Ty Cobbs all time hit record but was banned from the Hall of Fame because he bet on the outcome of a game while he was a coach, Nolan Ryan-who frequently pitched balls clocked at around 102 miles per hour, the Chicago "Black Sox"-the 1919 Chicago White Sox in which several of the players threw the World Series by accepting a bribe to not perform at their best and there was a movie made about this called "Eight Men Out" and I was actually an extra in that movie!!, etc....

Not every game is exciting, but as was already mentioned, if you have a favorite team and you follow them, then you take a deeper interest in the game. Of course, a double header with a fight over a pitcher's duel (when pitcher's intentionally try to hit some batters with the ball, but not make it look obvious) in the 3rd inning of the first game makes for a very interesting game!!:biggrin2:

Here are some youtube links that bring back the yesteryear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ytGaO2uXU
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc

Cub Cadet 123

Those names you mention all do ring bells , even saw the movie about Babe Ruth
102 mph thats about the speed of a good fast bowler in Cricket , have a poor mans insight into Baseball , I think that will suffice.
Both games out here pulled a good crowd approx 40,000 each game and the funny part was they put together an Australian team with a player worth of about a million and they beat the 250 million team worth of the DBacks and only just lost to the Dodgers who I think they said had a team worth of 450 million
Regards
Oz

I also lost interest in a lot of sports when $$$$$$$$$$ became a major factor.
Baseball,
Football,
Basketball,
Hockey,
:BlahBlah:

Eg: we went to a game in Chicago with a group of friends & it cost me over $ 160.00 for the evening.:bash2: not including the 5hrs. Wasted ! I guess I'm

Un-:American Flag 1:

As far as soccer is concerned, you couldn't pay me to attend a game.

Excuse me while I go watch the paint dry.

NIK,

I'm with Ozcubowner, baseball is boring. But, most sports bore me. My father took us to see the Senators back in the 60's and got angry at us for paying more attention to the peanuts and popcorn vendors than the game.

Old mate do not be to hard on Soccer/Football as I believe your team and my team are both in the World Cup in Brazil this year , the largest sporting competition besides the Olympics
My team (Socceroos) is in the group of death as they call it , but we will give them a run for their money , the team to watch however will be Japan they might upset a few of the fancied runners
The best paint to watch dry is the ceiling paint that goes from pink when you apply it to white when dry , goes on easy , you can see where you are going and awesome to watch dry (lol)
Regards
Oz

I love sports and baseball is my favorite. Oz, as you are new to baseball I will try to explain things from my point of view. I grew up in a home of 4 brothers and I was the only one who liked sports so nothing was shoved on me, but there is more to baseball games than just the game, it is the experience. I am a huge Chicago Cubs fan but I do not watch every game and do not go to many at all; to be able to do that I would almost have to be a player because baseball is a long game and season. When you go to a game the experience not only includes the game but seeing the sites, sounds, food, people, and everything else. Ya, you can go to the game and it be a boring game where not much happens, but remember everyone, baseball is 162 games to a season it is truly a sport of endurance. Everyone that has been to a game has at least 1 memory that you will always remember, even if it's about peanuts. My boys love sports and they are really good at them, hopefully they will have good memories about going to games. Baseball is an American game like Soccer (football to the rest of the world) is to the rest of the world. You might go to a game unsuspecting that you will have one of the best sports experience you ever: like scalping some tickets that are behind home plate on a business trip and the game going 13 innings in a pitching dual and ends in a walk off home run with the team on the edge of playoffs that are only 2 weeks away.....ya talk about a packed, loud, crazy Stadium.

Thank you for trying to give me an insight into the game , I agree with one aspect you mention that is being there trumps anything else
Regards
Oz