Hockey Observations at the Ballpark

[SCBlueLiner]

I love both sports, but think about it, at an U11 baseball tournament, a kid can stand around in the outfield for hours and not get a play. Sometimes they play every other inning. Maybe the kid gets two at-bats during the game. The same kid gets a shift in hockey going full blast for 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes every 3 or 4 minutes. Same thing for parents. They get to see Johnny on the ice every 3-4 minutes as opposed to getting an at-bat every 30-45 minutes. It's easy to see why many prefer hockey in today's caffeinated society.

Thank you for getting this back on track. A baseball observation through a hockey dad's eyes.

[DrGaf]

I love both sports, but think about it, at an U11 baseball tournament, a kid can stand around in the outfield for hours and not get a play. Sometimes they play every other inning. Maybe the kid gets two at-bats during the game. The same kid gets a shift in hockey going full blast for 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes every 3 or 4 minutes. Same thing for parents. They get to see Johnny on the ice every 3-4 minutes as opposed to getting an at-bat every 30-45 minutes. It's easy to see why many prefer hockey in today's caffeinated society.

Caffeine is AWESOME.

[Froggy Richards]

Without confusing our friends from Wisconsin, replace Mauer with Robin Yount for a more complete answer. Actually I will take a stab at it and say Michael Jordon was the better athlete than all three. God I wish he played hockey....

Love a good reference to the 80's Brew Crew. They were fun to watch, Molitor, Yount and Gantner.

Great point about Michael Jordan. One of the best Athletes of all time. And we all saw what happened when he tried to play Baseball. He couldn't hit. Not even in AA level Minor League Ball. He's a good golfer though.

[JSR]

You're comparing hitting a moving, round ball that is roughly the same size as a round bat to hitting a golf ball, sitting motionless on a tee, with a huge, square club head. The best Baseball hitter in the world gets a hit 35% of the time. The best golfers hit greens in regulation 75-80% of the time, and most of them aren't even athletes. But I'm sure those 70 year old guys breaking Par at the Country Club could easily step in the box and hit a 95 mph cut fastball.

After reading that last comment I'm guessing you have some sort of agenda here so I think it's pretty pointless to debate further.

No agenda at all... I just disagree completely with your assessment. It tells me you lack knowledge regardign sports other than baseball. You clearly had an agenda trying to elevate basebaqll above the other sports you continue to do so here with the inane idea that hitting percentage and greens in regulation are some how comparable statistics.... though the fact you brought those into he debate lend tons of credibility to intigo's asseertion that baseball "is for the geeks in the stands working out statistics in their heads" ..... your calling bazeball players athletes but golfers are not, talk about comical..... Your analogy about a 70 year old country club guy breaking par and hitting a 95 mph fastball is beyond ridiculous considering the country club guy is not playing a professional course laid out the way it would be for a pro tourney, that 70 year old wouldn't come even remotely close to breaking par on a course like that but he might take a cut at that fastball........ see how easy it is to shoot down that type of nonsensical thinking.... my only agenda is to show you that your thought process is flawed, I don't really give a rip about any of this other than that.... it's great that you love baseball, if you love it then there is zero wrong with that and you explained why you love it (most of which had nothing to do with athletics) but just leave it at loving the sport, quit professing how complex and difficult it is when it simply is not.... let me put it anotehr way, if hitting a baseball is so hard, why do they have so many different types of pitches (sliders, curves, knuckle, fast ball etc...), I will tell you why, because the sinmple act of just hitting the ball is jsut that, it's simple, if all they threw were fastballs hitters would probably hit in the neighborhood of .850 instead of .350..... the only "skill" in baseball is being able to throw different pitches properly so as to keep a hitter guessing a bit, outside of that the rest is just not that tough

Hitting Percentage is a Volleyball Stat. In Baseball it's called Batting Average. Nobody who ever played organized Baseball would use that term, so you can quit pretending that you ever played. That's like me saying that Basketball is easy. My opinion would mean nothing since I never played it.

You said hitting a golf ball consistently and accurately is the hardest thing to do in sports. Greens in Regulation is the exact stat that measures that, just like Batting Average measures hitting success in baseball.

But since you don't like stats, how about a simple question instead? Joe Mauer is one of the best Baseball players in the world. Phil Mickelson is one of the best Golfers in the world. Who do you think is a better Athlete?

I love how people ont he internet think they know everything just because they site inane stats and think someone did or didn't play just because they used a certain vernacular in a message board...... for the record I played baseball from 2nd grade through 10th grade and I've coached little league (would you like to see the pics from my mom).....

Actually you could say fairways hit is a better measurement than greens in regulation of that particular statement. Greens in regulation is an overall encompassing stat that is an accumulation of many stats......

Mickelson is the better pure athlete (your question insinuates you think it's Mauer which shows how little you know of the athleticism of certain athletes).... oh and I'd take Mickelson as a better athlete over Yount as well..... here is a another one, who is the better athlete John Kruk or Tiger Woods...... obviously Tiger Woods....

[JSR]

Without confusing our friends from Wisconsin, replace Mauer with Robin Yount for a more complete answer. Actually I will take a stab at it and say Michael Jordon was the better athlete than all three. God I wish he played hockey....

Love a good reference to the 80's Brew Crew. They were fun to watch, Molitor, Yount and Gantner.

Great point about Michael Jordan. One of the best Athletes of all time. And we all saw what happened when he tried to play Baseball. He couldn't hit. Not even in AA level Minor League Ball. He's a good golfer though.

Couldn't hit????? ........ A 31 year old basketball player who's body is not even close to the prototypical baseball player body was able to go and play AA ball where he had a BATTING AVERAGE (here is where we'll be using the stats geek stuf against you) of .202 , considering the overall batting average for his team that year was .248 (I would assume the rest of those guys were full time career baseball players) I'd say Jordan was extremely successful in his one year of baseball and that just proves my point that any half way decent athlete can hit a baseball even when they've never really played the game.... thanks for helping me out with my point

[Froggy Richards]

No agenda at all... I just disagree completely with your assessment. It tells me you lack knowledge regardign sports other than baseball. You clearly had an agenda trying to elevate basebaqll above the other sports you continue to do so here with the inane idea that hitting percentage and greens in regulation are some how comparable statistics.... though the fact you brought those into he debate lend tons of credibility to intigo's asseertion that baseball "is for the geeks in the stands working out statistics in their heads" ..... your calling bazeball players athletes but golfers are not, talk about comical..... Your analogy about a 70 year old country club guy breaking par and hitting a 95 mph fastball is beyond ridiculous considering the country club guy is not playing a professional course laid out the way it would be for a pro tourney, that 70 year old wouldn't come even remotely close to breaking par on a course like that but he might take a cut at that fastball........ see how easy it is to shoot down that type of nonsensical thinking.... my only agenda is to show you that your thought process is flawed, I don't really give a rip about any of this other than that.... it's great that you love baseball, if you love it then there is zero wrong with that and you explained why you love it (most of which had nothing to do with athletics) but just leave it at loving the sport, quit professing how complex and difficult it is when it simply is not.... let me put it anotehr way, if hitting a baseball is so hard, why do they have so many different types of pitches (sliders, curves, knuckle, fast ball etc...), I will tell you why, because the sinmple act of just hitting the ball is jsut that, it's simple, if all they threw were fastballs hitters would probably hit in the neighborhood of .850 instead of .350..... the only "skill" in baseball is being able to throw different pitches properly so as to keep a hitter guessing a bit, outside of that the rest is just not that tough

Hitting Percentage is a Volleyball Stat. In Baseball it's called Batting Average. Nobody who ever played organized Baseball would use that term, so you can quit pretending that you ever played. That's like me saying that Basketball is easy. My opinion would mean nothing since I never played it.

You said hitting a golf ball consistently and accurately is the hardest thing to do in sports. Greens in Regulation is the exact stat that measures that, just like Batting Average measures hitting success in baseball.

But since you don't like stats, how about a simple question instead? Joe Mauer is one of the best Baseball players in the world. Phil Mickelson is one of the best Golfers in the world. Who do you think is a better Athlete?

I love how people ont he internet think they know everything just because they site inane stats and think someone did or didn't play just because they used a certain vernacular in a message board...... for the record I played baseball from 2nd grade through 10th grade and I've coached little league (would you like to see the pics from my mom).....

Actually you could say fairways hit is a better measurement than greens in regulation of that particular statement. Greens in regulation is an overall encompassing stat that is an accumulation of many stats......

Mickelson is the better pure athlete (your question insinuates you think it's Mauer which shows how little you know of the athleticism of certain athletes).... oh and I'd take Mickelson as a better athlete over Yount as well..... here is a another one, who is the better athlete John Kruk or Tiger Woods...... obviously Tiger Woods....

Sure, just vernacular. I bet you call a Penalty Kill a "Negative Man Advantage" all the time too.

I don't think you're fooling anyone here. Stick to subjects you know something about. There is only so much time in a day.

[InigoMontoya]

Never have to get grass stains out of hockey socks.

[SCBlueLiner]

I've never gotten a sunburn watching a hockey game.

[Froggy Richards]

I love how people ont he internet think they know everything just because they site inane stats and think someone did or didn't play just because they used a certain vernacular in a message board...... for the record I played baseball from 2nd grade through 10th grade and I've coached little league (would you like to see the pics from my mom).....

Actually you could say fairways hit is a better measurement than greens in regulation of that particular statement. Greens in regulation is an overall encompassing stat that is an accumulation of many stats......

Mickelson is the better pure athlete (your question insinuates you think it's Mauer which shows how little you know of the athleticism of certain athletes).... oh and I'd take Mickelson as a better athlete over Yount as well..... here is a another one, who is the better athlete John Kruk or Tiger Woods...... obviously Tiger Woods....

Sure, just vernacular. I bet you call a Penalty Kill a "Negative Man Advantage" all the time too.

I don't think you're fooling anyone here. Stick to subjects you know something about. There is only so much time in a day.

You mean subjects like calling out morons who have moronic outdated takes on sports they know nothing about

I was thinking more on the lines of name calling when you get waxed in a debate. You're very good at that. Don't give up your gift!

[InigoMontoya]

I've never gotten a sunburn watching a hockey game.

Or bitten by a mosquito.

[SCBlueLiner]

I've never gotten a sunburn watching a hockey game.

Or bitten by a mosquito.

...but I have burned my mouth on a cup of coffee at the rink, which is something I've never done at the ballpark.

[DrGaf]

Pretty sure Froggy and JSR missed the point of this potentially light-hearted conversation ... perhaps you all could continue this in pm so we don't need to scroll an entire page of quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote to see the basic premise of a "nuh-uh vs. uh-huh" literary battle.


One basic advantage of baseball over hockey is tossing peanut / sunflower shells on the ground. That is a basic fundamental human right at a baseball game.

[Froggy Richards]

Huh... what debate were you following??? You were so thoroughly inhilated in this debate you fell back on "grammar police" tactics that only debate losers use.

Using a Baseball term that doesn't exist isn't bad grammar, it's lack of knowledge and experience. And I think you meant "annihilated".

[Froggy Richards]

Pretty sure Froggy and JSR missed the point of this potentially light-hearted conversation ... perhaps you all could continue this in pm so we don't need to scroll an entire page of quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote of a quote to see the basic premise of a "nuh-uh vs. uh-huh" literary battle.


One basic advantage of baseball over hockey is tossing peanut / sunflower shells on the ground. That is a basic fundamental human right at a baseball game.

Point taken Doc. Once he said Phil Mickelson was a better athlete than Joe Mauer I just couldn't resist making him look dumb. I'm done now.

[stonehands]

Froggy Wins this Debate - JSR calling Phil a better athlete than Mauer is laughable.

[SCBlueLiner]

That foul smell in the restroom at your local baseball field complex on a 90 degree day is hands down worse than any odor coming from a hockey locker room...and that's a tough stench to beat.

[Ugottobekiddingme]

After more consideration and deliberation with a slight case of constipation remembering the "stench" produced at the former Columbia Heights rink, I would like to retract MJ. Neon Deion Prime Time Sanders was the full package....God I wish he played hockey.

[DrGaf]

That foul smell in the restroom at your local baseball field complex on a 90 degree day is hands down worse than any odor coming from a hockey locker room...and that's a tough stench to beat.

here here ... and at least there's no biffy's in the rink either.

[JSR]

Huh... what debate were you following??? You were so thoroughly inhilated in this debate you fell back on "grammar police" tactics that only debate losers use.

Using a Baseball term that doesn't exist isn't bad grammar, it's lack of knowledge and experience. And I think you meant "annihilated".

Thye only lack of knowledge or experienc showing here is the fact you think Phil isn't a great athlete... shows how little you know of the man.... sufficed to say it's ironic you chose Mickelson of all people for this little baseball debate.... the fact you "don't know that you don't know" is what is making you look so dumb....

[InigoMontoya]

Baseball has no younger siblings racing back and forth on metal bleacher in snow boots. But I'd take that over sprained ankles in flip-flops, tripping over partially buried trucks and army guys behind my bag chair. -- Ooh, you don't have to carry those darned bag chairs to a hockey game.

[Froggy Richards]

Waaaaaaay beyond laughable.....

[Section 8 guy]

I'm a huge Phil fan, huge. But mauer was named both THE BEST football player in The country and THE BEST baseball player in the country his senior year of high school. I'm not sure Phil can even begin to approach that. Joe is a pretty good athlete.

[InigoMontoya]

The smell of cut grass is better than the smell of Zamboni exhaust.

[Tigers33]

Comparing Phil to Mauer is probably choosing the wrong people. Didn't joe play high school baseball, basketball, and football. He was also named football player of the year, and had a scholarship offer to Florida state. There is zero chance Phil is the better athlete.

Now with that said I think a lot of people would have more respect for golfer's if the played and practiced as much as they do. Most of us play 18 holes and then look for a beer and a couch. PGA players will play 72 holes in one week, practice before and after ther rounds, and play practice rounds before the tournament. Then do it all over again the next week.

Remember no riding carts

[Mite-dad]

Comparing Phil to Mauer is probably choosing the wrong people. Didn't joe play high school baseball, basketball, and football. He was also named football player of the year, and had a scholarship offer to Florida state. There is zero chance Phil is the better athlete.

Now with that said I think a lot of people would have more respect for golfer's if the played and practiced as much as they do. Most of us play 18 holes and then look for a beer and a couch. PGA players will play 72 holes in one week, practice before and after ther rounds, and play practice rounds before the tournament. Then do it all over again the next week.

Remember no riding carts

Yeah, and they can be chain smokers and over-weight and out of shape and still win tournaments. I doubt there are many baseball players that are chain smokers.