Don't Doubt Baseball

Recently, on JJHuddle, there were a few people that were bashing the sport of baseball saying how it was easy and how you don't have to be a good athlete and were complaining about kids playing Summer baseball and so on. It didn't really strike a nerve with me, but it did prompt the following post, which I thought could serve as a nice little blog entry. The rest of this entire entry is my post:

I was reading the debate about baseball, and, being a high school varsity baseball coach, I thought I'd chime in. I hope I don't get too lengthy, and I don't mean to "preach" at all. I hope I am not reopening a can of worms or dragging back out the dead horse, but I am just sharing my perspective and personal opinions. :-)

Baseball is not an easy sport. It may be a "boring" sport for spectators that don't enjoy or understand the game, but it is not easy. Chemistry, attitude, and leadership are equally as important in baseball as they are in football or any other sport for that matter. They carry a little different role in each sport, but they are just as important to their respective sports. Football is the more obvious team game, where you must have everyone doing the right thing at the right time. Baseball is just as much of a team sport involving chemistry, but it's not nearly as obvious. Not even considering off the field and in the dugout stuff (that's a whole different ball game, there), chemistry on the baseball diamond, especially defensively, is equally as important. (The only exception might be the excessive chemistry needed for a cohesive offensive line unit, which I admire and admit.) When you have two middle infielders turning a double play, there needs to be excellent chemistry betewen them to be consistently good over the course of a season (see Omar Visquel and Robbie Alomar). You can't replace Omar Visquel with Ozzie Smith, and visa versa, and expect the same results! (Well, maybe with Ozzie Smith, but you get the picture. :-) ) Certain pitchers throw to a different catcher than the full-time/"every day" catcher because they work with that catcher more often. And so on and so forth.

As outfielders (outfield is my "specialty", if you will), knowing how the other outfielders play, their range, their vocal tendencies, etc. are all important when fulfilling your job as an outfielder. You can't always teach these things. Outfielders/outfielders and even outfielders/infielders must work as one unit as well. I preach to my outfielders the importance of communication... not just between the outfielders themselves, but with the rest of the team for various reasons, into which I won't go in fear of boring you. Baseball is not a one-person sport. You can only have your stud hitter get up every 9 batters, whereas you can easily give your best athlete the football every other play or your best basketball player the ball every posession. You will never see a single player dominate because of his physical prowess in baseball like you will in football or basketball. Pitchers are the lone exception because of how they can be put on a pedastil after a dominating performance (I wouldn't even call it an exception, since it isn't necessarily their physical prowess that allows them to dominate, as it is their technique and mind/location.)

All in all, baseball is a game of little things, just like any other sport. QB's and WR's throw on the field every day after lifting during the summer... baseball players play baseball games against other schools... basketball players play games against other schools. I read similar comments a while back on here - where football and basketball players can more easily be athletes and succeed, good baseball players need to be good baseball players, and you become a better baseball player by practicing. Being a student of the game is just as important, if not more important in baseball than the others. That's why there is winter hitting league, Baseball season, then Summer baseball, then Fall baseball, as opposed to Football season and the generally referenced "offseason." Don't get me wrong, I am not for Fall baseball. I want every kid to play 2 or 3 sports, as many as he is able to play. All the coaches at our school encourage multiple sports. Sometimes it is hard recognizing the fine line between the end of baseball (or any non-Fall sport activities) and the beginning of football, and so on, but that's the risk you take. We had a good discussion about that in relation to Smithville. It's a delicate subject.

May God continue to bless you.
-Marcum