Your original premise is still incredibly flawed. American Football is once a week. International football is like twice a week.
Why do MLB players need day off when other sports don't?
- Thread starter BlackFyre
- Start date
Because other sports have piss awful unions and rush players back routinely. You rarely see guys rushed back in baseball.
Edit: A toe for a baseball player is huge, you plant your feet when driving a ball, you need your toes to not be broken to do that.
Still it must be the most fun pro sport to play. If I could go back in time I would've taken little league more seriously.
The NFLPA is a terrible players union. The NBA until very recently was losing battles to the owners left and right, it's not until very recently that the NBPA has grown real fangs.
The NFL players looks terrible because they're the ones that don't have guaranteed contracts, nono?Although I'm positive this agreement will be one of the hardest ones in recent memory.
Basketball? What's recent? They've been through at least two agreements without a problem. They're all getting paid and it's largely rolling along.
The NFLPA is awful. They've done essentially nothing about concussions and still don't have guaranteed contracts. MLBPA has been the strongest union in American sports for a long time.
I feel like people who make these kind of statements have never played any sports ever. Even if you aren't playing a game, you are up at the crack of dawn, running, lifting, training, warm ups, team scrimmaging, etc. Sports anymore have become something that you focus on nearly 365 days a year if you're an athlete. It is a job, just like writing code.
I don't think y'all are taking into consideration the very nature of football that naturally leads the nflpa having less teeth than the NBA or MLB.
A lot has to do with pitching match-ups. Also, you need to rotate a line-up to give the guys sitting in the dugout a shot every so often to keep them in rhythm. Just because you don't start doesn't mean you aren't coming into the game later either. It's a long season.
Most pro athletes are working or involved in work almost 100 hours a week.
Even if this was the case (it's not), why does this bother you?
I don't care for baseball that much, but these are not great working conditions. Look at the amount of bugs crawling on the pitcher one minute in.
It's basic math for injury prevention.
You're better off with your star playing 10% less games than a 10% chance to play 80% less games. Obviously those stats are numbers out of my ass but sports medicine takes that sort of thing into account alot.
WHAT? The NFLPA could only be less effective if it literally ceased to exist.
The NBAPA was a trash fire until semi recently.
You're better off with your star playing 10% less games than a 10% chance to play 80% less games. Obviously those stats are numbers out of my ass but sports medicine takes that sort of thing into account alot.
WHAT? The NFLPA could only be less effective if it literally ceased to exist.
The NBAPA was a trash fire until semi recently.
This is actually surprisingly difficult to parse for some folks.
I work in major league baseball and seeing it close up, it's unreal exhausting to watch these guys play 162 games in six months and then a post-season. The days off are often necessary just for minor scrapes and bruises that pile up.
I'm a huge football fan but Google the average actual game time of a player may surprise you. They get a week off.
Conclusion - sports are hard on your body. All of them
I"m sure every single point has been covered already on why players need time off. I do wish that the season was shortened down to 140-150 game range. I don't think baseball players are overpaid for what they do, it takes a lot of energy and sacrifice to play that many games a year, especially on back to back days. Having a day off in between games makes a HUGE difference.
You're wrong about the NBA, it's the land of guaranteed contracts. I do still think some players are underpaid, especially superstars.
I think it's a physical need. It's like asking why pitchers get pulled when QBs are expected to play the whole game.
They play almost as many games per season as the NFL, NHL and NBA combined and the travel is a grind.
Yeah OP, you tell them! What's your job btw? If it requires no physical strain why don't you work 7 days a week?
162 games + potential post season. Additionally, the roster includes more than 3 times the ppl needed to field all 9 positions, and those players being on the roster is premised on them getting a shot at some playing time once in a while. Btw, even outfielders have to bat.
OP really just needs to go to a MLB game in person and watch. The right fielder backs up the 1st basemen on a bunt, CF runs in to back up 2nd on a steal attempt, a drive to right/center field will usually have both RF and CF running full on steam while the LF is getting in position for a possible cutoff throw. Almost every play will see the fielders in motion.
Add in the majority of games are played at night, often late into the night and then the players are expected back around 1 the next day for practice, training and warmups. Day after day often for a week or two straight.
Add in the majority of games are played at night, often late into the night and then the players are expected back around 1 the next day for practice, training and warmups. Day after day often for a week or two straight.
They play daily in the summer heat. They travel more then any sports. It's a mental a physical grind. Just because it's not a physical sports doesn't make it any easier.
I think the mental aspect of basaeball is underrated. You are constantly thinking and analyzing every pitch and field decision. Baseball more then any sport is mental fuckary.
I think the mental aspect of basaeball is underrated. You are constantly thinking and analyzing every pitch and field decision. Baseball more then any sport is mental fuckary.
Did the Indians hire a bunch of STD ridden Cleveland prostitutes to sleep with the Yankees the previous night?
I mean, as a fan with season tickets it's a grind to just go sit on your ass and watch half of the games that your team ends up playing.
To actually perform athletically at an elite level twice as often, plus all the traveling, is no joke. And no, baseball players don't just stand around.
To actually perform athletically at an elite level twice as often, plus all the traveling, is no joke. And no, baseball players don't just stand around.
Even if the OP was specifying pitchers it wouldn't make a difference as to the answer
You mention Outfielders OP which actually quite interesting since I used to be an Outfielder when i played the game community wise.
One of the repeatedly emphasized deals was not only learning how to throw the ball correctly and accurately but conditioning yourself to the nature of the baseball. They gave us tennis balls, softballs, plastic balls with Pennies inside of them and then actual baseballs and watched as the different weights under different angles and fielding situations wrecked most plays or perception. This goes double for OF.
However, the throwing is the more interesting part. Judging distance isn't too bad of a job, but like in the video above, baseballs get flung around in a very specific manner. This manner was pulling your entire arm back and forming a pseudo 90 degree angle with it behind you. hand forward elbow back. When you are throwing the ball, you have to bring your elbow forward followed by your hand and then forcefully flick the ball forward which would give it the strength, momentum and keep it as accurate as can be.
Everytime you have to make a throw like this, especially in play assuming there is a chance to get someone out from beyond the infield. You stretch your shoulder, your elbow gets tugged on and your wrist bears the final brunt of all that momentum as you throw. Regardless of whether you had to actively field the ball or you just waited for it to come to you/had a more casual pace. I screwed my shoulder a bit only once and that was just little league stuff. Players in general are doing this almost every day for at least 2 hours a day and a non trivial amount of time out of time zone, so you can factor in some potential jet lag.
This is also not taking into account that Innings aren't timed like other sports are. A single inning will go on as long as the number of outs are under 3.
But I digress.
You mention Outfielders OP which actually quite interesting since I used to be an Outfielder when i played the game community wise.
One of the repeatedly emphasized deals was not only learning how to throw the ball correctly and accurately but conditioning yourself to the nature of the baseball. They gave us tennis balls, softballs, plastic balls with Pennies inside of them and then actual baseballs and watched as the different weights under different angles and fielding situations wrecked most plays or perception. This goes double for OF.
However, the throwing is the more interesting part. Judging distance isn't too bad of a job, but like in the video above, baseballs get flung around in a very specific manner. This manner was pulling your entire arm back and forming a pseudo 90 degree angle with it behind you. hand forward elbow back. When you are throwing the ball, you have to bring your elbow forward followed by your hand and then forcefully flick the ball forward which would give it the strength, momentum and keep it as accurate as can be.
Everytime you have to make a throw like this, especially in play assuming there is a chance to get someone out from beyond the infield. You stretch your shoulder, your elbow gets tugged on and your wrist bears the final brunt of all that momentum as you throw. Regardless of whether you had to actively field the ball or you just waited for it to come to you/had a more casual pace. I screwed my shoulder a bit only once and that was just little league stuff. Players in general are doing this almost every day for at least 2 hours a day and a non trivial amount of time out of time zone, so you can factor in some potential jet lag.
This is also not taking into account that Innings aren't timed like other sports are. A single inning will go on as long as the number of outs are under 3.
But I digress.
If all you care about is guaranteed contracts sure the NBA PA has been fine, but they got DESTROYED in the CBA negotiations before the most recent set. It was such a joke, their leadership was a trash fire until Michelle Roberts came in and laid down the fucking law.
MLB games are played a lot more often than most other sports since there are 162 games in a year and the length is a lot longer with players standing on the field, having to be ready at any moment to make a play and an inning can be as long as there isn't three outs, which means it could be a minute to about 30-45 minutes for an inning depending on how the game is going. When you get off the field, you still might not have much time to take a break before you have to go to the plate for your at-bat. Not as many off-days for everyday players as other sports.
I can understand the logistics for not having guaranteed contracts, but the NFLPA should be doing a helluva lot more for player safety beyond that.
Beyond the absurdity of the question asked, I'm most confused at the part about players in other sports not needing a day off. Football players get (typically) six days "off" a week. NBA players constantly miss games for rest. NHL, well, they're fucking amazing idk how they do it, but goalies there do get games off for rest.
I think as with any sport, just the grind of constant travel, practice, and stress just really adds up. Plus any even minor injury is magnified because you don't let it heal.
I think as with any sport, just the grind of constant travel, practice, and stress just really adds up. Plus any even minor injury is magnified because you don't let it heal.
I've responded to this info once and I'm still trying to figure out what recently means. It doesn't matter anyway, because the current state of the nbapa is fine and that's what matters. It's looking they'll go through two agreements without a problem.
The nflpa will never be as strong as other leagues. Players seriously don't have leverage. Their likeness doesn't drive the league and player health and careers only lasting a couple years on average tanks their power.
Like what? The average player doesn't stick around long enough to make any real noise. The NFL, football in general, is a sport that really tells you to get as much as you can before your short time is up.
Technically, February to October/November.
I would count Spring Training.
They didn't have teeth and collapsed during the lockout. The one chance they had to change things and they blew it