Are Baseball players the least conditioned athletes in team sports?

[Melanconfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Recon64bit

CC Sabathia would be so much more lethal if he were in shape. He would have more stamina than he already has.

Yeah it's not like he's throwing 250 innings a year or sitting 94 MPH for 110 pitches a game or anything.

[Chrisksaint]

Quote: Originally Posted by jth1331

Yeah, not like that guy just ran 270 feet, or 90 yards, and then had to run another 30 yards to get to home. Not too many football players or basketball players or hockey players wouldn't be grasping for air following a 90 yard dash, with a brief break, and then continue for another 30.

Back when I played HS football during 2 a days we would do about 15-20 100 yd sprints, I'm pretty sure after 1 of those I wasnt grasping for air

[CMH]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chrisksaint

Back when I played HS football during 2 a days we would do about 15-20 100 yd sprints, I'm pretty sure after 1 of those I wasnt grasping for air

Definitely different conditioning.

You know one thing I forgot to mention that I'm sure people are forgetting is time for conditioning.

When you play every day, it's very hard to condition properly and still conserve energy for the game. So baseball players are mostly conditioned to stretch their bodies so their muscles aren't taking in too much shock from those short sudden bursts of speed.

I know football guys take a beating, but you also have a week to prepare for one game on Sunday/Saturday/whenever it may be for the league. Again, not saying it's easier. It's not. It's different. But, football allows guys to rest (much needed after the abuse they take that one day in the week) and also condition properly while still getting enough rest for their game.

There are several off days in basketball that allow for those hard practices.

Baseball teams hardly even practice during the season. And when the sport is so demanding on hand-eye coordination, teams would rather focus on getting guys ground balls, fly balls, and swings than that extra hour or so running around for conditioning.

Just the nature of the different sports.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tarheel

How so? I played college football and we ran wind sprints after 2 1/2 hr practices...even as a LB I was able to run them pretty easily.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tarheel

To add some perspective... I played 1st base in baseball (high school) and LB in football (high school and college)...no way are the conditioning requirements the same. Like someone said earlier, baseball is about skill where as football is more about physical conditioning. Not to knock baseball but it takes a month to recover from the end of a football season, but about a week for baseball. As far as bruises and cuts...there are just as many ways to get hurt in football just as there are in baseball. Hitting someone's facemask with your forearm or slamming into your own teammate happens everyday in football.

Just because you're beating the living **** out of your body repeatedly doesn't mean you're more conditioned. Recovery time has nothing to do with conditioning.

Football players take more abuse. There's no doubt about that. Baseball players don't take that sort of abuse so there is no reason for that amount of recovery time. Again, this ends up being about using your common sense. Football is a contact sport, baseball isn't. Has nothing to do with conditioning.

[JBH3]

Quote: Originally Posted by YankeePride

Definitely different conditioning. You know one thing I forgot to mention that I'm sure people are forgetting is time for conditioning. When you play every day, it's very hard to condition properly and still conserve energy for the game. So baseball players are mostly conditioned to stretch their bodies so their muscles aren't taking in too much shock from those short sudden bursts of speed. I know football guys take a beating, but you also have a week to prepare for one game on Sunday/Saturday/whenever it may be for the league. Again, not saying it's easier. It's not. It's different. But, football allows guys to rest (much needed after the abuse they take that one day in the week) and also condition properly while still getting enough rest for their game. There are several off days in basketball that allow for those hard practices. Baseball teams hardly even practice during the season. And when the sport is so demanding on hand-eye coordination, teams would rather focus on getting guys ground balls, fly balls, and swings than that extra hour or so running around for conditioning. Just the nature of the different sports.

QFT.

What are we talking about here? Athleticism, conditioning, strength?

Baseball players are athletic, but c'mon you can't compare them to a NFL DB or HB. This is apples and oranges, let's be serious.

You have to be athletic to field ground balls and get your body into position to make throws. Put a NFL WR out at short stop and let's see how he does with his range and making the throws.

The physical traits don't translate from one sport to another, which is why you very rarely see an athlete good enough to play the trio (football, basketball, baseball) at a high level.

[Sportsforever]

Quote: Originally Posted by stewaat

What are we talking about here? Athleticism, conditioning, strength? Baseball players are athletic, but c'mon you can't compare them to a NFL DB or HB. This is apples and oranges, let's be serious. You have to be athletic to field ground balls and get your body into position to make throws. Put a NFL WR out at short stop and let's see how he does with his range and making the throws. The physical traits don't translate from one sport to another, which is why you very rarely see an athlete good enough to play the trio (football, basketball, baseball) at a high level.

I think it's been mentioned here already, but baseball is more of a skill sport. I remember my first day of practice in college I saw this guy who was a year ahead of me...I didn't even realize he was on the team (thought me must be the team manager or something). He had a little bit of a gut, would make you laugh when he ran, and just didn't look like a good athlete.

Turns out the kid was a stud and probably the best player I ever played with. He made All American. He had some of the best eye hand coordination I had ever seen and he was a baseball player...the game came to him naturally. I was a much better athlete than him (ran faster, jumped higher, etc), but he was a better baseball player.

[NYJets]

Quote: Originally Posted by Melanconfan

Yeah it's not like he's throwing 250 innings a year or sitting 94 MPH for 110 pitches a game or anything.

LOL, exactly. Just because he's a big man does not mean he's not in shape.

And the first post used A-Rod as an example, who is known for keeping himself in great shape and having a great work ethic. Baseball relies on less pure athleticism than basketball or football but that doesn't mean the players aren't in shape. Different sports focus on different things.