American Major League Baseball Playoffs - 2018

[Forty Two]

I used to watch Carlton and Collingswood regularly on ESPN back in the 1980s. It was a fascinating game that we had never heard of growing up. My school pals and I used to play footy (American version) every weekend at a local field. We'd beat the crap out of each other regularly. When we all discovered "Aussie Rules Football" we were intrigued and actually lead as much of the rules as we could at the time, and tried to play a bit. It was tough without the poles at the ends of the field, but we just used soccer goals and imagined the edges as being poles and sort of agreed to be as honest as possible, and there were trees we used as the outer poles.

After school, I'd pop it on to watch some. I became sort of a Collingswood fan. I never had a reason. I generally didn't even follow the standings in the league, and I never knew how the divisions were set up. Back then, if they didn't tell you on the broadcast, there wasn't much of a way to find out. No internet.

[Forty Two]

It's six guys since 1620 were killed by the ball. That's worldwide, with far more games played than baseball.

If you want to go worldwide with baseball - Chapman was killed by a pitch in American Major League baseball. A guy was killed by the ball in Dutch league baseball, Hartog Hamburger in 1924. See that, Dutchy? There were some minor league hit by pitch deaths in the US, like John Dodge of the Cincinnati Reds who died in a minor league incident.

Given the sheer number of cricket players, the far more "at bats" - the number of deaths per batter doesnt' appear to be all that far off, particularly with baseball being a much younger game.

[Forty Two]

Do they do this in cricket?

Or is that too "pussy" for cricket?

[Forty Two]

Do they do this in cricket?

[Hermit]

It's six guys since 1620 were killed by the ball. That's worldwide, with far more games played than baseball.

If you want to go worldwide with baseball - Chapman was killed by a pitch in American Major League baseball. A guy was killed by the ball in Dutch league baseball, Hartog Hamburger in 1924. See that, Dutchy? There were some minor league hit by pitch deaths in the US, like John Dodge of the Cincinnati Reds who died in a minor league incident.

Given the sheer number of cricket players, the far more "at bats" - the number of deaths per batter doesnt' appear to be all that far off, particularly with baseball being a much younger game.

I didn't mean to start a pissing competition, Coito, and I did write "fatalities are very rare". And lay off the "since 1620" thing. I mentioned what became known as the Bodyline series which took place in 1932-33. Until then bowlers bowled at the stumps. From then on they bowled at the batsman as much as they could get away with it, because the euphemistically named 'leg theory' worked. With the Bodyline tour cricket had fundamentally changed. When the English team's manager, Pelham Warner, came to the Australian dressing room to express his sympathy for what had happened on the field, the captain, Bill Woodfull sent him off with these words: "I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket and the other is not." Well, what was not cricket then, aiming the ball at the upper body and head of the batsman, is cricket now, and everybody is playing it.

[Scot Dutchy]

A very small league.
Mostly from the Caribbean.

It is called honkbal here. Now work that out.

[Forty Two]

It's six guys since 1620 were killed by the ball. That's worldwide, with far more games played than baseball.

If you want to go worldwide with baseball - Chapman was killed by a pitch in American Major League baseball. A guy was killed by the ball in Dutch league baseball, Hartog Hamburger in 1924. See that, Dutchy? There were some minor league hit by pitch deaths in the US, like John Dodge of the Cincinnati Reds who died in a minor league incident.

Given the sheer number of cricket players, the far more "at bats" - the number of deaths per batter doesnt' appear to be all that far off, particularly with baseball being a much younger game.

I didn't mean to start a pissing competition, Coito, and I did write "fatalities are very rare". And lay off the "since 1620" thing. I mentioned what became known as the Bodyline series which took place in 1932-33. Until then bowlers bowled at the stumps. From then on they bowled at the batsman as much as they could get away with it, because the euphemistically named 'leg theory' worked. With the Bodyline tour cricket had fundamentally changed. When the English team's manager, Pelham Warner, came to the Australian dressing room to express his sympathy for what had happened on the field, the captain, Bill Woodfull sent him off with these words: "I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket and the other is not." Well, what was not cricket then, aiming the ball at the upper body and head of the batsman, is cricket now, and everybody is playing it.

I mentioned the 1600s, because one of the hit by ball deaths in cricket was in 1645, the other 5 were later, but only like 3 were in the lats 75 or 80 years.

A couple of people mentioned this "it's no problem killing the batter" thing about cricket, and it sounded excessive. Yes, they pitch at the batter, but they do that in baseball too. Up and in - brushing the guy back from the plate. That's why baseball players wear helmets. That's why cricketers where massive pads and helmets and cages over their faces.

Neither of those practices makes them pussies. It's part of the game.

I'm not bashing cricket - it's a neat game. I am not too familiar with it. There isn't much time to follow another sport. But it just never ceases to amaze me the lengths some people (not you) need to go to pretend that the sports they watch are just oh so much better and more manly than American games. It's almost pathological.

Add that to the "everything American is worse" mantra, and it's not just sports -- it's cheese, it's bread, its' french fries, it's beer, it's cars, it's roadways and transportation, it's energy, it's political systems, it's men, it's women, it's pretty much every fucking thing -- what we eat for breakfast (you have people who eat sugar on bread for breakfast telling Americans that what they eat for breakfast is sub-par), the metric system, everything.

Jesus, folks! Do you have to measure your dick against American dick constantly?

How about this one:

[Forty Two]

Mostly from the Caribbean.

....note... being from the caribbean means it's "less." Not real Dutch...just Dutch possessions/colonies.

The Curucao Neptunus kick ass - they've won the last three championships -- the "Holland Series" lol. Actually, I think they've won the last 5 championships, as previously they were the Rotterdam Neptunus. Looks like the league is so competitive, the same team has won the Holland Series 7 out of the last 9 years.

Great fun.

[Hermit]

Add that to the "everything American is worse" mantra, and it's not just sports -- it's cheese, it's bread, its' french fries, it's beer, it's cars, it's roadways and transportation, it's energy, it's political systems, it's men, it's women, it's pretty much every fucking thing -- what we eat for breakfast (you have people who eat sugar on bread for breakfast telling Americans that what they eat for breakfast is sub-par), the metric system, everything.

Everything American is worse? That's a load of cobblers. I met an American woman once who was very, very nice. You won't believe this, probably, but she was even a little bit nicer than a Dutch woman I once met. So, whoever told you that everything American is worse, is just dead wrong. Tell him or her I said so, and I know.

Edit: Oh, wait. I misremembered. That American woman I told you about? She is Canadian.

[Forty Two]

Edit: Oh, wait. I misremembered. That American woman I told you about? She is Canadian.

Touche'

Canadian women are nice.

Canada in general is nice.

....maybe a little "tooooo" nice....hmmmm...

Canadian protesters:

[Forty Two]

I got to see a game in Toronto once. That was fun. Nice stadium. Nice Canadians around.

[Brian Peacock]

Do they do this in cricket?

There was that time when Sir Ian Botham said something particularly withering to Sir Vivian Richards at the Lords' crease in '47. "Why are you of such an unfortunately rotund disposition, if I may be so bold?" asked Richards of Botham, to which Sir Ian waggishly replied, "For hitherto upon each occasion I have had the good fortune to enjoy intimate physical relations with your good lady wife she has endeavoured to ensure that cook provides a suitably large and restorative breakfast."

[JimC]

[Seabass]

[pErvinalia]

The cricket ball has a prominent seam as well. But this idea that one is better than the other, or that one is more difficult, or dangerous, or whatever, is silly. Both sports require focus, skill, strategy and athleticism. That they need them in different proportions and to different extents only highlights that they're, you know, different games. I quite like the TV highlights btw. I don't have time to devote myself to the entirety of a match. It's the best way to watch all sports - except darts.

I agre with this. Although, the ball in cricket is definitely moving slower. It's bowled slower than a baseball pitch, and it has to hit the ground which cannot speed it up (it can only slow it down). So, it's going fast enough to hurt people, which is why cricketers wear pads, helmets and cages over their faces (which seems reasonable - not sure why Dutchy wouldn't call them out for being big pussies, though). And, then when the ball is hit, it's with the flat bat, and very often is diverted into different directions. The ball is heavier, requiring the ball to be hit harder to go as fast as a baseball, and it's not hit harder.

Your thinking doesn't sound right here. A fast bowler in cricket bowls between about 145-165km/h which I think is about the top speeds of pitchers. I'm not sure where that speed is measured, whether it's before or after the ball hits the ground. I always assumed from what the commentators said that it is the speed at the batsmen. Regarding hitting the ball harder, the cricket bat has a lot of spring in it and this is where a lot of the power comes from. So no, you don't need to hit the ball as hard as in baseball. Looking at your video of line drives, the baseball doesn't appear to be travelling much if any faster than a cricket ball that is hit in a hard drive.