Out of all the vast variety of sports there are, baseball is the most challenging and difficult sport to play. No other sport compares to the degree of difficulty that you have to deal with, like you do in playing the game of baseball. There are so many different elements that make this game the most difficult. Three major elements stick out in my mind as to why this wonderful sport is the toughest of all. The three main factors in my mind are the increased physical and hand eye coordination component, the mental aspect of this game, and the human interdependence between umpires, which are a vital part in every play.
To play the game of baseball you have to be in great physical shape. You also need to have an exceptional amount of hand-eye coordination. Baseball is a long, grueling 182-game season. You play back to back days, double-headers, and multiple times every week. This game takes a toll on you and your body, little tweaks and injuries add together and can have a lasting effect on your performance for a long time. Not only do you have to be in great condition to play every day and remain injury free, one of the hardest things to do in all of sports is hit a baseball.
Anybody can just pick up a basketball and football and learn it pretty quickly, but baseball, you could say it’s a whole different ball game. Have you ever tried to just pick up a bat and hit a ball coming 90+ Mph at you? Not only that, can you do that while the ball is traveling in different directions, coming right for you one second, then popping the catcher’s glove the next? It’s safe to say it’s not an easy task to accomplish, and unlike other sports hitting the ball 3 out of 10 times is absolutely great at the major league level.
Not in any other sport can you shoot 3 out of 10 free throws, or complete 3 out of 10 passes and be considered one of the best in the league. This is one example statistically of why baseball is the hardest and most physically demanding sport to play. But wait that’s not all, not only do you have to have the right physical and hand-eye coordination tools, baseball is just as much if not more a game of thinking as well. In the game of baseball more than any other sport, you really have to focus and think about what you’re doing on every single play.
Of course there are parts of the game that become somewhat natural, but baseball is a game of fundamentals. You have to always be on top of your game and one step ahead of the curve, no pun intended. Every play contains different situations, which call for you to do an assortment of different things. You have to be thinking of what it is you’re going to do if the ball is hit to you, and what you do if hit to any of the other eight of your teammates on the field.
Have you ever felt on top of your game, but for some odd reason you just couldn’t focus and preform at the best ability that you know you’re capable of? That’s what happens many times in baseball. You really have to focus and know what you’re doing wrong, and what adjustments to make to fix it. More than all other sports one little odd or unusual thing you start doing or change in your mechanics has a huge effect on the amount of production and performance out on that diamond.
While hitting, throwing, or catching the ball, the simple extra movement or step you’re taking can cause a hundredth of a second difference in your throw, swing, or pitch, but this game is a game of seconds and that slight movement is the difference between a homerun or a ground ball, an amazing play in the field and an error, a strikeout or a ball hit in the upper deck. But wait there’s still more. Along with all the physical and mental aspects of the game that you have to control, there is one key element in which you can’t control.
Many say that baseball is like all other sports with referees and officials to rule upon the game. But baseball has an extra human interdependence aspect of the game, unlike any other: every single play, and every single pitch you have to rely on the judgment of another human outside of both teams. The fact that the main function and goal of the game is to hit the ball and score more runs than the opposing team, and prevent them from doing the same is simple. There has to be someone who deciphers whether a pitch is a ball or a strike right?
This factor that the main purpose of the game consists with every play relying on the judgment of an official is so crucial to the game because these umpires essentially can control the game with their strike zones. Not only is a baseball hard enough to hit when the ball is thrown straight at you. But now you have to take into account the judgment of an umpire on whether or not the pitch is a strike and you should swing at it, or if it’s a ball and you should leave it be. All of these factors working together in junction are why baseball is the hardest sport to play despite what any argument has to say.
Some may say that baseball isn’t as hard as it seems and just about anybody can play the sport. Their thoughts and statements are wrong and blasphemous to the sacred American pastime. While, yes, you may not need to be the greatest athlete to play, or be the fastest and strongest person in the world. The simple fact of all the mental, grueling physical length, hand-eye coordination, and umpire judgment aspects of this game make it by far the hardest sport to play. Some others may say that golf is the rival to baseball and is more difficult.
I say to those people, “Is it really that hard? ” “Is the ball moving? ” And the answer to those questions is no, the ball is standing still, it is not coming 90 mph at them, and no they do not have to decide within those few seconds while the ball is traveling from pitcher to catcher, should I swing at this, and is this a strike. Baseball is America’s past time for a reason. Everybody that truly knows the game knows the difficulty, and the accomplishment in being great at this amazing sport.
