Comment by WhompingWindows | Hacker News Reader

Comment by WhompingWindows | Hacker News Reader

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WhompingWindows

I think baseball is an extremely uninteresting sport. The pace of the game is very slow, as every batter is swinging for the fences, stepping out of the box, and there is usually no action for over 3 hours of "playing" time. What is the game today? On a time-basis, baseball is 99% players standing around waiting for something to occur.

Gone are the days of defensive brilliance and working players around the bases methodically with short hits, speed, and finesse. I won't miss baseball in the Olympics and I think it's rightfully falling to other much more interesting and engaging sports. The idea it is our "national pastime" is just laughable to me.

What's more, where I live, we had the Pawtucket PawSox try to extort Providence and RI for massive tax breaks and a premium parcel of downtown Providence land. Thankfully, Rhode Islanders called their bluff and let them move to Worcester. I'm glad my state acknowledged baseball is an incredibly slow-paced and yawn-inducing sport and we didn't want to pay through the nose for a stadium that hardly any of us would enjoy having.

It's funny you say that it's a negative because I think that's a positive. It's one of my favorite things to do to load up my team's games (Tampa Bay Rays fan here!) on MLB.tv and work on my side project while I watch the games. When the game is going slowly I'll pay more attention on my projects and vice versa.

But the actual game play is my least favorite part about baseball. I absolutely love the theory and statistics that goes into the front office decisions. It's this interesting mix of economics and game theory and negotiation theory. My favorite team is notoriously cash strapped (read: cheap) and I think it's fascinating watching the team wheel and deal to try to compete with teams that literally spend 2x-3x as much as they do

I want to second this. Baseball is best watched with friends or family as whatever you consider a step above "background noise." It can fill in lulls in the gathering, and when something exciting does happen it's easy to direct everyone's attention back to the game.

Growing up with baseball also plays a large part in deciding if you'll have any interest in it as an adult.

Yep, I think people who say they think it is boring really don't understand what these sports are about.

Two examples are golf and cricket. Both take days so the action clearly isn't important. If you go live, it is about the day out, having some beers with your mates, relaxing (tbf, golf has managed this far better than cricket which has had to move to shorter formats). Watching at home, it is the same thing. Relaxing, having a good time with your mates, whatever.

It is true, nothing is going to compare to seeing an "action sport" live: boxing, a huge soccer game...very little in life compares. But I think there is room for other stuff too: stats, stories, experiences, etc. (tbh, I think action sports are going to struggle against Esports too). I am a big soccer fan but rarely watch games, I just follow the story and the stats (and bet on games). Viewership has gone through the roof because the stories are just so compelling (and yes, the money too nowadays).

I hope that sport doesn't become "all action, all the time" though. Again, nothing compares to action but you can't watch that every day.

I think my friend and business partner put it best when I told him I didn't really care for the sport - he asked "Did you grow up watching it with your dad? [No] It's a lot like religion."

Agreed. Baseball is a weird slumberfest, I wonder why millions of people consider it even a remotely interesting sport. I'd rather watch a darts championship, it's got more energy.

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