MLB at All-Star break!

[doctoroxygen]

I'm not sure what you're arguing. All those countries I listed, plus dozens more, have some form of organized baseball (which is what I said originally), and many have professional baseball players playing in America. The New York Yankees are the most popular team in the world in terms of team gear sold. Baseball has a worldwide influence.

 

[IsiMan84]

Like where? The only Test nations in Asia are Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Next to no one outside of those countries play cricket.

Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE at the least. As far as numbers go, I guess the fact that India has 1.1 billion people to Korea and Taiwan's combined 70 million (190 million with Japan) doesn't make a difference. And if you think I'm just playing the "populous country" card, I'll do the same for Japan and baseball (in Asia), or the U.S. and baseball (worldwide).

I'm not sure what you're arguing. All those countries I listed, plus dozens more, have some form of organized baseball (which is what I said originally), and many have professional baseball players playing in America. The New York Yankees are the most popular team in the world in terms of team gear sold. Baseball has a worldwide influence.

I'm sure plenty of countries have organized forms of the sport, just that they aren't that popular. Did you know there's a pro league for Cricket in the U.S.? Probably not, but it exists.

 

[Tomatoes]

YEAH THAT'S WHY ONLY AMERICANS PLAY BASEBALL! BUT MAKE SURE YOU DON'T TELL ANYONE IN CHINA, KOREA, CANADA, THE NETHERLANDS, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, TAIWAN, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PANAMA, MEXICO, VENEZUELA, SOUTH AFRICA, ITALY, OR ECUADOR!

This entire half of the world, plus some, plays baseball, idiot.

They estimate the World Cup 2006 was veiwed by 5 Billion people.......Thats 5/6ths of the world......More than any other sport. :moon:

 

[doctoroxygen]

Red herring: that has nothing to do with the argument that baseball is a popular sport in much of the world.

 

[seanchai]

Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE at the least. As far as numbers go, I guess the fact that India has 1.1 billion people to Korea and Taiwan's combined 70 million (190 million with Japan) doesn't make a difference. And if you think I'm just playing the "populous country" card, I'll do the same for Japan and baseball (in Asia), or the U.S. and baseball (worldwide).


I'm sure plenty of countries have organized forms of the sport, just that they aren't that popular. Did you know there's a pro league for Cricket in the U.S.? Probably not, but it exists.

Right, I forgot Sri Lanka. Those are the only Test nations in Asia though, meaning cricket is only widely popular in those nations for them to have reached Test status. So more people play cricket in Asia owing to the fact that the second most populous state there is cricket-mad. Look at it this way, though: since the US is the most populous country in North America, that means more people in North America play, say, basketball than anything else. Does that mean basketball is the most popular sport in Mexico and Canada? Hardly.

 

[IsiMan84]

Right, I forgot Sri Lanka. Those are the only Test nations in Asia though, meaning cricket is only widely popular in those nations for them to have reached Test status. So more people play cricket in Asia owing to the fact that the second most populous state there is cricket-mad. Look at it this way, though: since the US is the most populous country in North America, that means more people in North America play, say, basketball than anything else. Does that mean basketball is the most popular sport in Mexico and Canada? Hardly.

Then that further solidifies my statement that baseball is not popular in "over half the world" like doctoroxygen claimed, just because the U.S. and a few island countries play it. That was the original argument.

And your analogy wasn't correct, the correct way to compare it would be that basketball is the most popular sport in North America as a whole, not specifically in Mexico or Canada. I was speaking strictly on a numbers basis. When I spoke of Asia I never mentioned any countries like China or Russia. I only compared baseball to cricket, and less countries in Asia play baseball than cricket so I would still be correct whether you took a numbers approach or amount of countries.

 

[Rad]

It's all about the NEW YORK METS baby. Ya gotta believe.

 

[IsiMan84]

Da Braves.

You know they're gonna come back, don't fight it.

 

[Bonhomme]

I'd be surprised as hell if any NL team were to win. But baseball's a game of high randomness, with such tiny differences in location (a few nanometers can be the difference between a grand slam and third out) and so few scoring events often determining a game's outcome.

I think the Tigers have got where they are by getting up for every game, whoever thay might be playing, to a greater extent than the other contenders. And will continue to do so. Ace job coming back from 4 down to beat the Royals last night.

But I'm not expecting them to take it all until they make a better showing against the White Sox, Yankees, and/or Red Sox.

 

[il_duce]

Whoever it is, it's gonna be an AL team. Just look at the White Sox, Tigers, BoSox, Yanks, even the Twins...the AL is plain stacked. The only NL team that could compete with those teams right now is the Mets. Any other NL team would go down easily in the World Series.

Look at the stats for interleague play this year. 154-98 in favor of the AL.

IF the White Sox' pitching gets better, they will win it again. Detroit looks good now, but I have a feeling they won't cut it in the playoffs due to inexperience. They also haven't fared well against the White Sox or BoSox so far this season, and they'll probably end up meeting one of those teams in the postseason. But never count out the Yanks.

The Mets will make it from the NL, but the AL could be any of the above teams.

 

[IsiMan84]

And once again I will say, da Braves. I know somebody's watching this game against the Cardinals.

 

[IsiMan84]

Make that 2 days in a row. I won't put my foot in my mouth just yet.

 

[belividere]

I really like the team that the Tigers have this year. Unfortunately for them I think inexperience in the post season will be their downfall. In a couple of years though with additions from the present farm team I think they will be unstoppable. This year will be a great learning experience, and the present staff of pitchers has no where to go but up.

I'm a born and raised southsider though so I do believe the Sox have one more in them, that is if we can perform in the next few months. Experience paid off tonight versus the tigers despite the 4.5 game deficit. Hopefully the same will hold true throughout August unlike last year for us. I'd also have doubts with our pitching as it is now that we could dominate like last years playoffs. Either way it will be an interesting rest of the season and playoffs no matter who makes it through since the competition is so high.

And I never thought that it would be so close in the all star game this year. The AL really pulled it off by the seat of their pants, which shows that the game can really go either way in the end.