Article says : "Hitting a Baseball is the Hardest Skill to Pull Off in Sports." -- Not IMO

Miller

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Biggest key is 'PATIENCE' to hit at the ML level. TW RARELY ever swung at bad balls. Same thing for Tony Guinn. Get the pitch you like. Easier said than done when facing a surgeon like Greg Maddux.

i think you mean tony gwynn.....and you're flat out wrong (sorry). mr. padre had 7 silver sluggers, had over 3,000 hits, and a lot were outside of the zone - which is what made him a freak.

-Miller (got two hits off andy benes at bosse field....)

:)
 

Miller

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Biggest key is 'PATIENCE' to hit at the ML level. TW RARELY ever swung at bad balls. Same thing for Tony Guinn. Get the pitch you like. Easier said than done when facing a surgeon like Greg Maddux.

now, wade boggs had plate discipline.....(and a couple gold gloves)

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ate chicken before every game and supposudley could crush some beers....
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
now, wade boggs had plate discipline.....(and a couple gold gloves)

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ate chicken before every game and supposudley could crush some beers....
Boggs, Gwynn, Carew, Brett, Suzuki, ROSE! Some of the greatest pure hitters of all time. I'm old enough to remember Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Frank Robinson. These guys could hit and hit some more. They thrived on pressure situations.
 

arnaldo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Boggs, Gwynn, Carew, Brett, Suzuki, ROSE! Some of the greatest pure hitters of all time. I'm old enough to remember Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Frank Robinson. These guys could hit and hit some more. They thrived on pressure situations.
Online at 2 0'clock in the wee hours, Jay? Just like the old days when closing up your pool rooms. ;)
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i think you mean tony gwynn.....and you're flat out wrong (sorry). mr. padre had 7 silver sluggers, had over 3,000 hits, and a lot were outside of the zone - which is what made him a freak.

-Miller (got two hits off andy benes at bosse field....)

:)
TG only SO 29 times per season for 20yrs. Williams averaged 50 per season. He may have swung some bad balls but not a lot.
 

Geosnookery

Well-known member
Now mainly Cazoo, a UK/European car leasing company.

Betting companies were the main sponsors, but there is a lot of anti-gambling sentiment in the UK at the mo, so they are slowly being replaced (e.g. Cazoo will sponsor the 2023 World Championships instead of Betfred)

Landing Cazoo is a home run. Cazoo is a major sponsor of English Premier League Football …the most followed sports league in the world. It gives Snooker a boost of confidence. Not being ‘as dependent’ on gambling sponsors may also attract a bit more Mid East sponsors. Pre Covid here was a big snooker tournament planned in Saudi Arabia that was cancelled because of travel issues.
 

justadub

Rattling corners nightly
Silver Member
sitting over here, waiting for ChicagoRJ to chime in.... (and now I find that he is KRJ these days)
;)
 

arnaldo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Landing Cazoo is a home run. Cazoo is a major sponsor of English Premier League Football …the most followed sports league in the world. It gives Snooker a boost of confidence. Not being ‘as dependent’ on gambling sponsors may also attract a bit more Mid East sponsors. Pre Covid here was a big snooker tournament planned in Saudi Arabia that was cancelled because of travel issues.
Thanks for that gem (red-fonted) of insight and enlightenment, Geo.

I'm an educated man, yet have to say (appreciatively) that but for your post, I would have never known or realized that particular cultural/societal aspect existed.

I would think it important for any manufacturer, promoter or business person to factor that information into their plans, and sensibly adjust for it.

Arnaldo ~ Makes me realize that being personally devoid of religiosity can have its shortcomings in the marketplace.
 

Guy Manges

Registered
I believe what we see as hard in pool compared to many sports is the time frame that one can endeor in order to win a tournament. This can really take it's toll on a human being, The physical hours required to accomplish the draw both mental and physical is on a body. The lack of sleep, Sometime it's hard to believe the affects the weather has on an indoor sport like pool. Do you favor an audience or a table, Do you tighten up or loosen up. Do you eat or not eat. Do you go with the flow. Then we miss the first simple shot and go to the chair with a big smile on our face, Yes I see pool could be hard in mind to many people... Guy
 

Guy Manges

Registered
I understand what you mean but Pool needs a lot more than statistics.

In order for Pool to be over the top, 1 & 2 things have to happen.
1-lots of money in Pool from sponsors
2. lots of children exposed to Pool to build a fan base

We've had decades that have gone by with virtually no exposure to children (like there was at one time) in the US
before Pool moved into establishments with Alcohol almost exclusively. While Pool Leagues have helped some
it doesn't compare to the livelong love we lost or what we could have now. We need more community pool rooms
on 7ft tables to regain the interest of the public. Pool needs exposure on many levels.

1 and 2 above build the fanbase. The fanbase is what keeps the sponsorship going. 1 can't solve what 2 don't have.
Our media is to raise children away from gambling and alcohol, Our pool here in the USA rides on both...
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One thing Lenny D told me is the pitching over the last 20 years is getting better and better to the point it’s hurting the game. Nobody’s going to bat 400 ever again.
 

vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I believe what we see as hard in pool compared to many sports is the time frame that one can endeor in order to win a tournament. This can really take it's toll on a human being, The physical hours required to accomplish the draw both mental and physical is on a body. The lack of sleep, Sometime it's hard to believe the affects the weather has on an indoor sport like pool. Do you favor an audience or a table, Do you tighten up or loosen up. Do you eat or not eat. Do you go with the flow. Then we miss the first simple shot and go to the chair with a big smile on our face, Yes I see pool could be hard in mind to many people... Guy

Hard yes, but hardest no.

In the example you give, winning a (lets assume major) tournament, the obvious reason pool can not be the hardest is that the world snooker championship lasts longer than any pool tournament, so straight away for that particular aspect it must rule pool out.
 

Guy Manges

Registered
Hard yes, but hardest no.

In the example you give, winning a (lets assume major) tournament, the obvious reason pool can not be the hardest is that the world snooker championship lasts longer than any pool tournament, so straight away for that particular aspect it must rule pool out.
I say hard not hardest... Guy
 

Bobkitty

I said: "Here kitty, kitty". Got this frown.
Gold Member
Silver Member
Hand ball. First, you've got to train your left hand and side (for right handers) to be as great as your right. Your opponent will throw everything to your off hand and side. I knew the best hand ball player in the the world, Rick Haber. He could also rent a set of golf clubs, play once a year and shoot around par. Gifted athletic ability.... YES. Who of us have that? What else could he be great at: horseshoes, ping pong, pool, etc. Once took on a racket ball player in swim fins on the hand ball court.
 

CanadianGuy

Well-known member
baseball is just plain tough, period

pitching 85mph with curves, fielding 85mph bouncing balls, throwing 150+ feet on a rope and stealing bases are all required at the higher end of the amateur spectrum, all these tasks are incredibly difficult

of course if you can do just one thing exceptionally well in baseball you can progress

five tool players like Trout and Griffey are simply generational, Ohtani is another good example of god level talent
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
I believe what we see as hard in pool compared to many sports is the time frame that one can endeor in order to win a tournament. This can really take it's toll on a human being, The physical hours required to accomplish the draw both mental and physical is on a body. The lack of sleep, Sometime it's hard to believe the affects the weather has on an indoor sport like pool. Do you favor an audience or a table, Do you tighten up or loosen up. Do you eat or not eat. Do you go with the flow. Then we miss the first simple shot and go to the chair with a big smile on our face, Yes I see pool could be hard in mind to many people... Guy


When I think about it, few things put the physical demands on a person that the old gambling matches sometimes did. Two guys might hook up for eighteen hours, twenty-four hours, even longer! I passed by a friend's house. He wasn't home. When I asked where he was at I was told he was on a pool table, had been there three days, nonstop. Meanwhile his wife and two children were home with no food, no money, and no transportation. I went and found Bobby. He had been taking on all comers and winning for three days. A wily old player had sat and watched until the time was right. After about seventy hours or so Bobby could barely stand and his judgment was long gone. He was quickly getting stripped of the stake he had taken days to win.

Bobby was a friend, not just a poolroom buddy. I broke all the rules of poolroom etiquette and pretty much dragged him out the front door with about a hundred and fifty or so left after he paid off the bet that was in progress when I walked in. Twelve hours before he had a lot more but if I had been an hour later he would have been even poorer than the very few dollars he had when he started three days ago.

I don't hear of matches longer than twelve or fourteen hours these days but even that can get pretty brutal on the natch! I am not in the loop anymore anyway but it seems people have learned to break play into bearable blocks now.

Hu
 

Mich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The most difficult skill in all sports is dropping to your knees in front of a 100mph slap shot in hockey to block it. Period.
Most people cannot do it even once.
 
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