Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm looking into watching Baseball, MLB, if that makes any sense
Saw Moneyball recently, and it sparked an interest in the sport for me.

Now my first problem, is I don't live in America , added to that the time difference meaning actually watching it would probably involve staying up all night to watch it online (unless one of the sports channels here shows it, then I could just record it).
Second problem is, I have no idea who to support. For Football (soccer) it was easy, born and living in Norwich, Norwich are my team. But of course can't quite pick my local team for Baseball, as I don't have one. Do I go for the Yankees because they win the most? Or should I pick out a team based on the name? Any other way?
Also, anything I should know about the sport? Is there a beginners guide? How entertaining is it to watch a game, and also how long on average does a game take?

Thanks in advance

To speak to the entertainment question, the only proper way to watch baseball is while getting sauced and eating hot dogs and soft pretzels.

dogma wrote:To speak to the entertainment question, the only proper way to watch baseball is while getting sauced and eating hot dogs and soft pretzels.

Heavy emphasis on the getting smashed part. Baseball is second only to golf as the most boring sport to watch.

As for which to pic I guess go with who has the coolest mascot? Perhaps which has the coach with the coolest name?

First, congrats - baseball is the greatest sport

Second, do not support the Yankees. They're seriously the worst. Their players (except a couple) are unlikable, their home broadcast announcer sucks, and they buy championships. To put it in EPL terms they're like Man U. Total frontrunner team.

I would say watch a couple games and find players you like and support their team. If you like pitching the Giants have some great pitchers. If you like straight offense the Texas Rangers are real good for that. If you like awful, almost unwatchable baseball then my team, the Houston Astros, are now your team!

To me baseball is super entertaining but a lot of people only like it live. It is the "thinking man's" game - there are many advance metrics and stats and situational plays and very subtle nuances to the game. Average game is 2-3 hours long, a lot of it is dependent on how fast a pitcher works and how well they're pitching.

If you'd like to know more you can PM me, but it's awesome to see someone with an interest!

To be fair, the Astros have a new owner who is willing to spend money on them.

The previous owner was trying to sell them for two years and dumped payroll since he didn't want the team, anyway.

I enjoy baseball. It is a little slow, but I like having it on while I am painting 40k stuff. I chick I dated recently says she likes it because she can watch the game and still have a conversation with someone.

Edit: This is Houston's last year in the NL. We're moving to the AL in 2013.

Baseball is good for drinking beer, painting Space Barbies, and napping while you watch.

The Red Sox are superior.

As for how to pick a team? I have no idea.

Should you pick a team? Eventually, yes! It's more fun to root for someone. For now, pick who you want to win a game and just watch it unfold. That's sort of how I watch your Premiere league soccer here. Whatever teams are playing, I just pick one to root for. Usually the underdog.

Also remember that a team that wins 60-65% of it's games is doing great! It's a 162 game season, April through September.

Redsocks....

First off, don't support Minnesota, Toronto, or Tampa. They play on turf rather than grass. It's an abomination and the fact that those cities haven't risen up to fix this problem is just evidence that they're all terrible people.

Second off, you need to pick a side on the Designated Hitter (DH) issue. The DH is a way to let out-of-shape and unqualified players to play at the Major League level. It also lets those wimpy pitchers in the AL avoid actually playing the game. And, it lets AL managers play on easy mode, where they don't have to actually make any tactical decisions during a game. On the other hand, it does create an additional Hit per game.


So, at this point, you should be looking into supporting a team from the NL. You'll want to pick a team with a rich history, so right away, ignore any team that isn't older than you are (Miami, Arizona, Colorado assuming you're ~20). From the remaining 13 teams, you'll have to come up with some solution you prefer.


The game itself is fairly easy to learn, but there are tons of intricacies that really enhance your enjoyment of the game. You'll pick them up with time. The key thing about watching baseball is that it is meant to be a relaxing game and you should watch it on a lazy summer day with a beer in one hand. An average game takes about 3 hours.

You should support the St. Louis Cardinals. They might not be the best team, but they've always been a good one. Other than that, I've always been more of a hockey fan, so i don't quite pay enough attention to baseball haha

There are only two teams worth supporting

1. The Boston Red Sox
2. Whoever is beating the New York Yankees

Grakmar wrote:First off, don't support Minnesota, Toronto, or Tampa. They play on turf rather than grass. It's an abomination and the fact that those cities haven't risen up to fix this problem is just evidence that they're all terrible people.

Having played various sports on grass, and FieldTurf, grass can go to hell.

Look around - you may find groups in the UK supporting various teams. The Cubs and the Red Sox may very well have international support - both of these teams have lots of fans outside their home towns.

Like kronk said, having a game on in the background or radio is awesome during painting. There's a lot of downtime in baseball and you can get painting done in between pitches or just listening to a game.

As far as teams to support, since you'll be watching games ~5-8 hours later, a team that plays a lot of day games might be up your alley (assuming you go to bed before midnight ) The Cubs, the lovable losers that they are, play quite a few day games. While I don't support the Cubs (I'm not a drunken frat boy), you can probably catch more games from them.

rodgers37 wrote:Now my first problem, is I don't live in America , added to that the time difference meaning actually watching it would probably involve staying up all night to watch it online (unless one of the sports channels here shows it, then I could just record it).

Surely the BBC will carry at least some of the games. Barring that you could always listen to a game on streaming radio over the internet.

rodgers37 wrote:Second problem is, I have no idea who to support.

You should support a team that you'll be able to reliably watch or listen to. If you support a lackluster team full of cheaters and overpriced prats, such as the Yankees, but never get to see them play, you won't be as interested in the game.

rodgers37 wrote:Also, anything I should know about the sport? Is there a beginners guide? How entertaining is it to watch a game, and also how long on average does a game take?

It's basically cricket. Only marginally more interesting.

Grakmar wrote:Second off, you need to pick a side on the Designated Hitter (DH) issue.

This is true. The Designated Hitter rule was developed by the more civilized leagues because a number of unscrupulous players thought it would be fun to try to hurt the pitcher (the most important player on the team) by throwing balls at him trying to intentionally hit and/or injure him, thereby depriving their opponents, in a particularly unsportsmanlike fashion, of the chance to compete.

Imagine there were two divisions in the Premier League. In the first you could punch the goalie in his face and in the second you couldn't. This is the DH rule.

biccat wrote:
This is true. The Designated Hitter rule was developed by the more civilized leagues because a number of unscrupulous players thought it would be fun to try to hurt the pitcher (the most important player on the team) by throwing balls at him trying to intentionally hit and/or injure him, thereby depriving their opponents, in a particularly unsportsmanlike fashion, of the chance to compete.

Imagine there were two divisions in the Premier League. In the first you could punch the goalie in his face and in the second you couldn't. This is the DH rule.

It also means that any time the goalie isn't actually blocking shots, he can go sit down and rest while another player comes out to do things for him.

Grakmar wrote:

biccat wrote:
This is true. The Designated Hitter rule was developed by the more civilized leagues because a number of unscrupulous players thought it would be fun to try to hurt the pitcher (the most important player on the team) by throwing balls at him trying to intentionally hit and/or injure him, thereby depriving their opponents, in a particularly unsportsmanlike fashion, of the chance to compete.

Imagine there were two divisions in the Premier League. In the first you could punch the goalie in his face and in the second you couldn't. This is the DH rule.

It also means that any time the goalie isn't actually blocking shots, he can go sit down and rest while another player comes out to do things for him.

From the baseball history that I have read, it was actually the more unscrupulous teams who read into the rules, and determined that there was nothing stating that they couldn't have a DH, and for whatever reason, it sorta caught on. Mind you this was during the time when the Yankees were owned by CBS and tried to be paragons of the "old ways", so don't go blaming this crap on us.

Personally, I wouldn't be an Angels fan, because they are currently doing what the Yankees have traditionally been blamed for doing: attempting to buy championships.


My advice, get the MLB.tv package in March (spring training starts), don't necessarily choose a team just yet, but if a team starts to catch your fancy, start reading up on that team's history, as nearly all clubs in the Majors have good long histories.


Can't wait for this season to start, and the Yankees get championship number 28 (obvious flamebait is obvious here)

Grakmar wrote:It also means that any time the goalie isn't actually blocking shots, he can go sit down and rest while another player comes out to do things for him.

Yes, it's the goalie's job to block shots, not to run around the field with the rest of the players.

I should point out that Baseball is the easiest, and yet the hardest game to understand of any sport that I have watched.

I've been actively watching games and playing since I was 5. Things that are the simplest for me to understand suddenly become the most difficult thing to put into words when my wife (who knows jack all about the game) asks a question, usually interrupting my watching of the game.

biccat wrote:

rodgers37 wrote:Now my first problem, is I don't live in America , added to that the time difference meaning actually watching it would probably involve staying up all night to watch it online (unless one of the sports channels here shows it, then I could just record it).

Surely the BBC will carry at least some of the games. Barring that you could always listen to a game on streaming radio over the internet.

First off, thanks everyone for your advice so far. And biccat, as far as I know, BBC don't show any Baseball, they don't show much sport at all really, Football highlights, F1, Athletics and the occasional other thing (Like the World Cup, FA Cup I think). (think they do commentary on Five Live extra radio station though...)

I think ESPN show baseball, and at home home (I'm at Uni, so only home home some of the time) we have Virgin Media, which includes ESPN. But i'm not 100% sure how much/what they show and can't tell until the season starts.

So MLB.tv looks like it could be pretty useful though, They don't appear to say how much it is for a season, they have an off season package available for $24.99, but since I have used up around 2/3rds of my monthly internet allowance with 3 weeks left, and the subscription only lasts until 4th March, its probably not worth it as I won't be able to get too much use.

Oh also, do the Oakland Athletics still operate/run like they do in Moneyball?

rodgers37 wrote:

Oh also, do the Oakland Athletics still operate/run like they do in Moneyball?

Yep.


Last year, a full season for MLB.tv was around 150 USD. If you are limited in bandwidth per month, streaming games may not be the best idea, especially if school goes on during this time.

It's OK not getting the sports you want on certain channels. In the US, sports channels are dominated by ESPN networks and various Fox networks, etc. and they carry the usual American games, and some UEFA soccer matches. I say all that because I very much love Rugby, and am disappointed that ESPN refuses to cover even the RWC!

biccat wrote:

Grakmar wrote:It also means that any time the goalie isn't actually blocking shots, he can go sit down and rest while another player comes out to do things for him.

Yes, it's the goalie's job to block shots, not to run around the field with the rest of the players.

Yes, but the DH is like pulling the goalie every time you are in control of the ball and therefore getting an extra offensive player, and then putting him back in (instantly) any time you don't.

Ensis Ferrae wrote:

rodgers37 wrote:

Oh also, do the Oakland Athletics still operate/run like they do in Moneyball?

Yep.


Last year, a full season for MLB.tv was around 150 USD. If you are limited in bandwidth per month, streaming games may not be the best idea, especially if school goes on during this time.

It's OK not getting the sports you want on certain channels. In the US, sports channels are dominated by ESPN networks and various Fox networks, etc. and they carry the usual American games, and some UEFA soccer matches. I say all that because I very much love Rugby, and am disappointed that ESPN refuses to cover even the RWC!

I get 15GB a month. Plus I will be at home (probably) the whole of June, July, August most of September and some of May.... where we have unlimited broadband. Streaming doesn't take too much, watched a Football game this past weekend (Norwich beating WBA ) and was used less than half a GB that whole afternoon/evening, including internet browsing and probably youtube watching.

rodgers37 wrote:

I get 15GB a month. Plus I will be at home (probably) the whole of June, July, August most of September and some of May.... where we have unlimited broadband. Streaming doesn't take too much, watched a Football game this past weekend (Norwich beating WBA ) and was used less than half a GB that whole afternoon/evening, including internet browsing and probably youtube watching.

Well shoot, you're expecting to be home for basically the entirety of the season! August and September ball are the best (aside from the Playoffs in October). Though, if watching during school, and using your 15GB per month, depending on how much you watch, you can burn through that very quickly.

rodgers37 wrote:Oh also, do the Oakland Athletics still operate/run like they do in Moneyball?

They do. However, many of the personnel involved with Billy Bean have moved on to other organizations. And, the approaches used to evaluate players, Sabermetrics, has spread and gained considerable acceptance throughout baseball. (Not everyone is on board, but a good number of teams are).

As such, the A's have really fallen on tough times, as they no longer have the advantage of uncommon knowledge, and they still lack revenue to buy the players they want.

rodgers37 wrote:I'm looking into watching Baseball, MLB, if that makes any sense
How entertaining is it to watch a game, and also how long on average does a game take?

Thanks in advance

Is life that boring that you have hours and hours with nothing better to do?

Watching paint dry is cheaper and just as exciting...

rodgers37 wrote:
Oh also, do the Oakland Athletics still operate/run like they do in Moneyball?

Almost every MLB team uses something like Sabermetrics, though they don't necessarily rely on it to the degree that the A's do.

Many NBA teams also use similar systems, and I know people trying to develop that type of analysis system for American football.

CT GAMER wrote:
Watching paint dry is cheaper and just as exciting...

Disparaging a game that is played across much of the world is pretty rude, not to mention that there are obviously a fair number of people who find the game very interesting and not in the least bit boring.

It's also not really cheaper, unless you know where to find drying paint that's within walking distance 6 nights a week.

I can get a month, maybe even 2, of my enjoyment out of my gallon of paint. But then I'm not into BBP.