Some thoughts on Baseball

A Baseball game is similar in overall structure to that of a war, one comparison is its being made up of battles. The sport is made up of numerous competitions between batter and pitcher, which ultimately determines the outcome of the game. In other team sports, players must cooperate in order to score, in Baseball one can take it upon himself to score. It is mano e mano, slugger vs. flamethrower, the battles that decide the war. Of course partial exceptions can be made for people like Michael Vick in Football or Kobe Bryant in Basketball, but they still require defense to block and protect them, to feed them the ball at the appropriate time and so on. These battles in Baseball also test the limits of humankind's capabilities and skills, one cannot throw harder than around 101 or 102 mph. In the evolution of baseball, since its inception in the late 19th century, and although we didn't have hand held speedometers, pitchers velocity hasn't likely increased. It also tests the batter, as one has to swing as soon as the pitchers releases the ball. Scientifically and technically speaking, hitting a small ball going tops of 100 mph with a cylindrical bat is the most difficult feat to accomplish in all of sports.
In other sports, methods of scoring are not nearly as difficult. Catching a Football-running and shooting a Basketball in a hoop isn't as complex and technically challenging as hitting a Baseball in the majors. A Japanese man once remarked on how perfect a sport Baseball is for Japan, that its ideally suited for the Japanese mentality and what the country desires out of a team sport. Japan is also a big fan of Golf, because as the legend goes, it is cheaper and faster for rich Japanese businessmen to fly to the US and play there than it is in their own Japan. They seem to be fond of mathematical and precise ball striking games, such as Baseball and Golf. At the time of writing this article, A Japanese player is trying to become the first person of his country to make it to the NFL. The reason I'm mentioning Japan is because of its mathematical attractiveness. I once had an enlightening moment where I see every single play, out, swing, throw as making numbers which you can crunch, this is the field of saber metrics, by analyzing these numbers for areas like specialization. Another moment made me look at the game as a gladiator arena, where people are challenged to the very peak and potential of their skills. Essentially a survival of the fittest contest for peoples entertainment.