The trivia question tonight in the Fox Sunday Night Baseball game (STL v. PHI) was: Who has participated in the most Phillies losses? If the phillies lose tonight (they will, 10 - 0 in the 8th) they will have 10,000 losses all-time, the most in MLB history. The commentator then said, "10,000 losses in the 125 year history of the Phillies."


125 years... that's half the age of the United States.

The history of baseball is one of the reasons why baseball is the greatest sport in America. No, it's not the most popular, but it is the greatest.

Discuss.

7/15/2007 8:44:11 PM

the ancient greeks wrestled. that was like 3000 years ago. wrestling must be the greatest sport in the world.

7/15/2007 8:49:02 PM

This is going to bring out the haters but I agree with you. It's so ingrained in American history that it's records are the most prestegious in the entire world. Ask any casual sports fan about 61 or 714 or 755 and everyone knows exactly what you mean. I know Peyton Manning broke the record for TD passes in a season recently but I couldn't tell you how many he threw or what the record previously was.

Football is definitely the country's most popular sport, largely because of the south and midwest, but baseball is still the pasttime. The last strongholds in baseball are Boston, NYC, Chicago and St. Louis...

I love reading books about how the game was back in the day... Just finished up a book about the Brooklyn Dodgers that was a great read.

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 8:53 PM. Reason : x]

7/15/2007 8:52:12 PM

^^

Quote :

"The history of baseball is one of the reasons why baseball is the greatest sport in America."

^Exactly... I mean Jerry Rice's TD record was impressive, but I have no idea the number. The greatest record in all of sports is the career homerun record. Hands down. There isn't even a real challenger to that spot.

The history is half of what makes baseball great.

Also, can you recommend the title of that book? I'd like to read it.

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 8:58 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2007 8:57:50 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jfeveeDeUEs

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 9:05 PM. Reason : this is how it should be today]

7/15/2007 8:58:01 PM

it makes me honestly angry that the nfl is more popular than major league baseball. goddamn americans.

i also wish soccer was more popular, but that's a different thread (and it's still inferior to baseball).

7/15/2007 9:04:00 PM

Baseball is the greatest because it was whitest the longest.

7/15/2007 9:08:48 PM

It was Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn.

David Halberstam has written some good baseball books too. Summer of '49 and October '64...

lol at the Phillies fans cheering for their 10,000th loss...

7/15/2007 9:08:55 PM

Quote :

"Ask any casual sports fan about 61 or 714 or 755 and everyone knows exactly what you mean."

I'm more than a casual sports fan and I would have no clue that you were even referring to baseball.

Then again, I hate baseball with a passion and have never followed it.

7/15/2007 9:09:39 PM

I believe they'll probably be the first to 10,001 losses too...

7/15/2007 9:10:14 PM

hahahaha, that thomas edison sign was quite clever. got a chuckle outta me

7/15/2007 9:10:48 PM

for the haters

61 - Marris' single season homerun record (broken by McGuire, then Bonds... but we don't count them)
714 - Babe Ruth's all time HRs
755 - Aaron's all time HRs

7/15/2007 9:11:01 PM

Quote :

" I'm more than a casual sports fan and I would have no clue that you were even referring to baseball. Then again, I hate baseball with a passion and have never followed it."

Have you watched Sportscenter anytime in the past decade? I have a hard time believing that considering 30 minutes every night practically is devoted to 755 and was to 61 back in '98 and '01. There have also been MANY movies devoted to 61.

Endy Chavez ftw...

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 9:13 PM. Reason : x]

7/15/2007 9:13:03 PM

Is Marris' record bogus to the baseball fans out there?

Marris broke the record with a 162 game season... Babe Ruth got 60 in a 154 game season.



and what did the Edison sign say? I missed it.

7/15/2007 9:15:12 PM

FYI, people who hate baseball can't stand to watch sportscenter around this time of the year. So no, he probably hasn't seen anything on ESPN about it.

7/15/2007 9:15:20 PM

sportscenter still has plenty of content.

who's now, for example

7/15/2007 9:16:02 PM

the great age of major league baseball is over

the farm system keeps some of the old spirit alive

7/15/2007 9:18:15 PM

honestly, I think Ripken's record is the greatest in baseball

7/15/2007 9:26:50 PM

hating baseball = turrirst

even when my team (the indians) sucks or chokes, (which is often) I still follow the sport. I also think baseball on the radio is a lost art. It's really the only sport paced for radio where the announcer can describe what's going on pretty acurately. If you listen to hockey/basketball/football on the radio, no matter how good the announcer is, you still have no idea what's going on, you pretty much just judge it by crowd noise.

7/15/2007 9:30:17 PM

Quote :

"honestly, I think Ripken's record is the greatest in baseball"

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA

7/15/2007 9:39:36 PM

Gambling and Fantasy sports drive fan interest in this country

Baseball has 1

Football has both

7/15/2007 9:47:28 PM

Baseball still thrives in small southern towns. I don't know about up north but believe me baseball aint going anywhere. It's a summer lifestyle to go out to the ball park.

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 10:22 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2007 10:21:53 PM

Oldest =/= greatest

7/15/2007 10:24:55 PM

^ not necessarily, but in this case it's true.

7/15/2007 10:26:53 PM

Quote :

"Gambling and Fantasy sports drive fan interest in this country Baseball has 1 Football has both"

people don't gamble on baseball?
people don't play fantasy baseball?

you need to meet some new people

7/15/2007 10:52:26 PM

You obviously can't read

7/15/2007 10:54:18 PM

One reason why this thread is the best thread on TWW:

best is such a fucking vague word

jesus

anyway

Quote :

"Baseball has 1 "

Baseball has both k.

7/15/2007 11:05:24 PM

I agree with thread title

Quote :

"honestly, I think Ripken's record is the greatest in baseball"

You have to be kidding. What about the strike when Cal and the rest of MLB missed half of a season? What about the 1000 times he just pinch-hit to make an appearance in the games??? It is so overrated.

Also how can someone come in here and argue baseball and misspell two of the great players names? McGuire and Marris? Are you serious?

7/15/2007 11:31:36 PM

As many people gamble on soccer as gamble on baseball
It has no effect on the games popularity

Gambling in football is an industry in itself

You think Vegas gives a fuck about baseball wagers?

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 11:34 PM. Reason : x]

7/15/2007 11:33:50 PM

Quote :

"As many people gamble on soccer as gamble on baseball"

not sure what you're saying there

i'd think gambling on soccer is pretty minor in the US (whether it be on MLS or international games)

outside of the US however, soccer gambling is a gigantic industry, even bigger than gambling on american football is here

i mean, the whole idea behind the intertoto cup is so that degenerates will have games to bet on during the summer

[Edited on July 15, 2007 at 11:40 PM. Reason : ]

7/15/2007 11:36:42 PM

In America I'm talking about

Where soccer < competitive eating

People bet on baseball and people bet on soccer

But in America, gambling on football dwarfs the gambling interests of all other sports combined, besides college basketball 1 month out of the year

7/15/2007 11:40:23 PM

Yeah there really isn't much action on baseball at all compared to the NFL...

Online books can afford ten cent lines, but for most bookies and sportsbooks it wouldnt even be worth their time to use them...


Baseball has a lot of problems:

A) Inequality between the teams. It just makes it 20x less appealing nationwide since its essentially a battle of the same teams every year.

B) Its too slow. Baseball was popular because people followed it through the paper and it was a treat to actually see a game live. Now you can watch it all the time and people realize it pales in comparison to basketball & football.

C) The season is just too long. Individual games are meaningless. I cant imagine passing up on the opportunity to do something fun just to watch a regular season game.

7/16/2007 12:05:23 AM

this is just me talking (obviously), but i love the baseball season. the fact that there are so many games, and that they're so frequent (the real key) makes for a GREAT season. every day the standings change and it takes a while for a team to be truly out of it. and so few teams make the playoffs, the regular season is very very important.

it's great.

7/16/2007 12:17:19 AM

MLB baseball is as fucking boring as Nascar!!!!

7/16/2007 12:46:39 AM

^wow what a shitty post

7/16/2007 12:52:23 AM

Quote :

"broken by McGuire"

It would probably help your argument a little more if you could spell McGwire. I know it was probably accidental, but it could support this argument:

Quote :

"I'm more than a casual sports fan and I would have no clue that you were even referring to baseball. "

7/16/2007 1:26:32 AM

Quote :

"since its essentially a battle of the same teams every year"

since 2000, there have been 6 different NL champs, 5 different AL champs, and 7 different world series winners

Quote :

"Individual games are meaningless"

tell that to the 2006 astros or blue jays, each of whom missed the playoffs by two games or less or the 2005 phillies or indians, or the teams that come just short every year

every game counts

--

i understand most of the arguments against baseball, and i'm not about to defend against those who don't like it, but these are just stupid points

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 1:41 AM. Reason : ]

7/16/2007 1:41:03 AM

Quote :

"Baseball is the greatest because it was whitest the longest."

7/16/2007 2:14:51 AM

Native Americans were playing lacrosse long before we got here. That doesn't make it the greatest American sport.

7/16/2007 8:39:42 AM

Quote :

"A) Inequality between the teams. It just makes it 20x less appealing nationwide since its essentially a battle of the same teams every year. B) Its too slow. Baseball was popular because people followed it through the paper and it was a treat to actually see a game live. Now you can watch it all the time and people realize it pales in comparison to basketball & football. C) The season is just too long. Individual games are meaningless. I cant imagine passing up on the opportunity to do something fun just to watch a regular season game."

A) A 162 game season often comes down to the last fucking week before the playoffs to determine who will go and who will not. This happens in at least 2 divisions a year. That's not inequality. It's fun to see the "Triple-A" MLB teams (like the Marlins) win some games like they have recently. That's what makes the game great (mentioned above... the farm system).

B) Americans can't fucking respect a defensive game. 30% in baseball and you're pretty damned good. Because the scores aren't 115 - 110 or 35 - 28 means American's won't tune in. Same thing with soccer. Not enough scoring. There's just something about a stolen base then a sacrifice bunt to move the players into position that's beautiful. It's a game of chess.

C) They're not meaningless. You must be a baseball idiot to say that. Games in June and July can often shape or break a season. It's a hell of a lot better than counting teams out by week 4 in the NFL.

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 8:58 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 8:59 AM. Reason : .]

7/16/2007 8:56:42 AM

you forgot to mention the most boring sport also.

rather watch nascar than a baseball game

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 8:59 AM. Reason : and can you guys stop making so many baseball threads...most of us dont care]

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 9:00 AM. Reason : not to mention they play to many games and the season is way to long]

7/16/2007 8:58:30 AM

^ someone doesn't read the thread. And no I won't stop making these threads.

7/16/2007 9:10:05 AM

Quote :

"It's a game of chess."

More like checkers or tic-tac-toe

7/16/2007 9:26:04 AM

^ said by someone who doesn't know shit about baseball.

7/16/2007 9:33:18 AM

baseball a game of chess? maybe in that it's fun to do, takes a long time, and of course is incredibly boring to watch?

7/16/2007 10:00:01 AM

Quote :

"Americans can't fucking respect a defensive game."

Sure, blame America first.

7/16/2007 10:06:02 AM

Didn't read the topic, didn't read any of the hare-brained responses.

just wanted to add that I love baseball. Always have, always will. It is my pasttime, and I don't care if any of you don't understand the tactical beauty involved, in spite of it being a relatively slow game.

There are infinitely more elements to the sport than throwing and hitting a ball.

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 10:15 AM. Reason : eh]

7/16/2007 10:13:20 AM

What you all need to do is go to a little league allstar tournament. This will show you what the game is about. The reason a lot of people hate it is because it is over paid, steroid freaks who half the time don't even care if they win or not. The pure game of baseball is what Maris and Ruth used to play. When they had to get a summer job just to pay the bills in the off season.

7/16/2007 1:20:22 PM

just go to a Durham Bulls game (or, i'm told, a Carolina Mudcats game, but i haven't been to one of those)...

Minor leagues are where it's at, i'm not a big fan of the majors (and baseball is boring on tv), but i will go to a minor league game any time i can

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 1:32 PM. Reason : .]

7/16/2007 1:32:05 PM

Quote :

" The reason a lot of people hate it is because it is over paid, steroid freaks who half the time don't even care if they win or not."

You just described the NFL too... and the NBA but not to the extent of the other two in steroid use..

^ That's true but every once in a while a guy like Jose Reyes comes along and shows people what baseball is all about still..

---- There are two reasons that the NFL doesn’t get as bad a rap about steroids despite the use probably on par with MLB. 1) it’s ESPNs and the major networks baby and they can’t risk having people question it like they do baseball; and 2) no NFL records are important enough to the national psyche to be risked being broken by guys who have obviously used steroids.

[Edited on July 16, 2007 at 2:01 PM. Reason : x]

7/16/2007 1:59:11 PM