Burnout

[windbag]

Pardon my ignorance, but the thing that stands out for me about baseball, in comparison to other sports I follow more regularly, is the amazing number of games they play every year. 140, 150, before they get to the games that matter. How can an athlete play that often and still be at their best, or anywhere near it?

[wu-tang clan]

one word-



steroids

[hudsonharden]

Because baseball isn't as strenuous as basketball, football, soccer or hockey. With the exception of the catcher and pitcher (who starts every 5 days or so), you spend a lot of time standing in the outfield waiting for a ball to be hit to you and then you sit in the dugout for half an inning. Baseball requires bursts of athleticism while other sports require constant physical exertion.

This is exemplified in the fact that many players chew gum or even tobacco while they play. You won't find that in football.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Because baseball isn't as strenuous as basketball, football, soccer or hockey. With the exception of the catcher and pitcher (who starts every 5 days or so), you spend a lot of time standing in the outfield waiting for a ball to be hit to you and then you sit in the dugout for half an inning. Baseball requires bursts of athleticism while other sports require constant physical exertion.

This is exemplified in the fact that many players chew gum or even tobacco while they play. You won't find that in football.

Hear hear.

[windbag]

Perhaps baseball does require less exertion and is easier on the body, but even golfers play far less than baseball players. 25 tournaments is a big year for a pro golfer. If you made the cut everytime, that's still only 100 days a year. Is baseball easier on the body than golf?

[Yankee Legend]

This is why there are 25 man rosters not 9 man rosters. Reserve players are used in order to rest the regular starters once in a while. There are very few players who play more than 160 games.

[Williamsburg2599]

Because baseball isn't as strenuous as basketball, football, soccer or hockey. With the exception of the catcher and pitcher (who starts every 5 days or so), you spend a lot of time standing in the outfield waiting for a ball to be hit to you and then you sit in the dugout for half an inning. Baseball requires bursts of athleticism while other sports require constant physical exertion.

This is exemplified in the fact that many players chew gum or even tobacco while they play. You won't find that in football.
I wouldn't say that's the reason for football, more because of the physical contact. If you think about it, there's probabily as much standing around in Football as baseball. A starter only plays about 45% of the game time, and the average play is only about 7 seconds, add in half time, and between plays, and that's a lot of standing around. Atleast that's my argument to obnoxious football fans arguing that baseball is too slow and too much standing around.

[west coast orange and black]

windbag: even golfers play far less than baseball players.

it might have something to do with the corporate prize money available.

[Old Sweater]

Pardon my ignorance, but the thing that stands out for me about baseball, in comparison to other sports I follow more regularly, is the amazing number of games they play every year. 140, 150, before they get to the games that matter. How can an athlete play that often and still be at their best, or anywhere near it?

Every game matters before they get to the game that matters. In baseball the players just get to play 10 games that matter compared to 1 for football.