Do you consider baseball to be a "contact sport"? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Tasker]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

 

[chet]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport. Don't get me wrong, it is a sport but it's laughable that someone considers it a contact sport.

 

[Guest]

Nope.

 

[chet]

This might be more one-sided than the lime or lemon with the gin and tonic poll.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Of course it is. Just watch the blooper videos and you see outfielders running into each other all the time.

 

[D in the D]

As long as Ray Fosse and Buster Posey aren't FFA members, there shouldn't be much argument on this.

 

[Henry Ford]

Not since Ty Cobb retired.

 

[Steve Tasker]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have had two different people tell me adamantly today that baseball is a contact sport because (1) there is a chance of being hit by a pitch, and (2) there is a chance of a home plate collision.

While these are certainly both painful events and are frequent enough occurrences to where I wouldn't consider them to be rare, I don't think that these two in and of themselves qualify baseball to be a "contact sport" in my book. I voted no in the poll.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.

I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.

I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

 

[belljr]

There is a whole swing dedicated to making contact

 

[johnnycakes]

The contact is between ball & bat.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

I have had two different people tell me adamantly today that baseball is a contact sport because (1) there is a chance of being hit by a pitch, and (2) there is a chance of a home plate collision.

Tell them they are very wrong and should be ashamed for their stupidity.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

 

[Ned]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

 

[IC FBGCav]

As much as tennis is.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

I agree, baseball is not in the tier with those two not even close.

Having a very rare chance for contact does not make baseball a contact sport imo. You won't go 5 minutes without a crunching tackle in soccer or a melee under the boards in basketball.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

Good call.

 

[playin4beer]

If golf is a contact sport, then sure.. baseball is too

 

[Spartans Rule]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have had two different people tell me adamantly today that baseball is a contact sport because (1) there is a chance of being hit by a pitch, and (2) there is a chance of a home plate collision.

While these are certainly both painful events and are frequent enough occurrences to where I wouldn't consider them to be rare, I don't think that these two in and of themselves qualify baseball to be a "contact sport" in my book. I voted no in the poll.

(1) is a really stupid argument. Contact with the ball does not make a contact sport. Contact with other players does. Does this person consider volleyball a contact sport?

 

[El Floppo]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport. Don't get me wrong, it is a sport but it's laughable that someone considers it a contact sport.

more of a game than a sport.

and less contact than my morning commute- which is neither a game or a sport.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Not even close to a contact sport.

 

[The General]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport.

What?

 

[Dentist]

I think it's a sport where there is occasionally contact, but not a contact sport.

It's also less of a team sport, and more of an individual sport (or game, i'm fine with that, although it requires far more athleticism than most games) played by teams.

 

[Annyong]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport.

What?

Chad is fishing

 

[Ditka Butkus]

Your bat has to make "contact" with the ball to achieve the desired results in said sport.

 

[The General]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport.

What?

Chad is fishing

I bit. Not contact sport though.

 

[El Floppo]

Baseball barely qualifies as a sport.

What?

Chad is fishing

I bit. Not contact sport though.

I kind of agree.

7 guys standing around doing next to nothing most of the time while 2 other guys play catch. occasionally a few of them have to run somewhere . very, very occasionally two of them run into each other.

sounds kind of like a darts league in my pub.

 

[zamboni]

Yes

 

[larch]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

Agreed. Baseball is a much better sport than those two.

 

[Juxtatarot]

I say "no" but I guess Wikipedia disagrees (technically limited-contact):

Terminology in the United States[SIZE=small][edit][/SIZE]Current medical terminology in the United States uses the term collision sport to refer to sports like rugby, roller derby,American football, ice hockey, and lacrosse, the term contact sport to refer to sports such as soccer and basketball, and the term limited-contact sport to sports like squash and baseball.[1] The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement revised in 2008 included the following definitions:

In collision sports (eg, boxing, ice hockey, [American] football, lacrosse, and rodeo), athletes purposely hit or collide with each other or with inanimate objects (including the ground) with great force. In contact sports (eg, basketball and soccer), athletes routinely make contact with each other or inanimate objects but usually with less force than in collision sports. In limited-contact sports (eg, softball and squash), contact with other athletes or with inanimate objects is infrequent or inadvertent.[2]

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

I agree, baseball is not in the tier with those two not even close.

Having a very rare chance for contact does not make baseball a contact sport imo. You won't go 5 minutes without a crunching tackle in soccer or a melee under the boards in basketball.

You're being a bit generous about the frequency of said events.

There's way too much incentive for a player to throw himself to the ground faking or exaggerating contact to gain favor from the officials to give them full credit for being contact sports, though.

(Note this is not a statement about the sports' practitioners; the intent is to point out a design flaw.)

 

[kentric]

No. The game is limiting contact as much as possible. Limiting situations where there is a collision at the plate. Next they will try to limit taking out the 2nd Baseman/Short-stop on a double play ball at 2nd Base.

I guess you could consider it a contact sport if you count HBP though.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Your face is wrong.

 

[jon_mx]

Is boxing still a contact sport ?

 

[jon_mx]

I broke someone's collar bone and two ribs in this limited contact sport.

 

[modogg]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have had two different people tell me adamantly today that baseball is a contact sport because (1) there is a chance of being hit by a pitch, and (2) there is a chance of a home plate collision.

While these are certainly both painful events and are frequent enough occurrences to where I wouldn't consider them to be rare, I don't think that these two in and of themselves qualify baseball to be a "contact sport" in my book. I voted no in the poll.

ask them if tennis is a contact sport because there is a chance of being hit by the tennis ball. Hell, see if Ping Pong is a contact sport because you can get hit by the ping pong ball

 

[jon_mx]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have had two different people tell me adamantly today that baseball is a contact sport because (1) there is a chance of being hit by a pitch, and (2) there is a chance of a home plate collision.

While these are certainly both painful events and are frequent enough occurrences to where I wouldn't consider them to be rare, I don't think that these two in and of themselves qualify baseball to be a "contact sport" in my book. I voted no in the poll.

ask them if tennis is a contact sport because there is a chance of being hit by the tennis ball. Hell, see if Ping Pong is a contact sport because you can get hit by the ping pong ball

In soccer there is a chance someone may come within 5 feet of you at which time you are required to fall to the ground screaming while grabbing your knee.

 

[The General]

Baseball is not about contact. When it happens though it can be really nasty.

 

[The General]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

I agree, baseball is not in the tier with those two not even close.

Having a very rare chance for contact does not make baseball a contact sport imo. You won't go 5 minutes without a crunching tackle in soccer or a melee under the boards in basketball.

Crunching tackle and melee are a bit much. Soccer and NBA have a lot of emphasis on flopping/flailing around to influence the refs.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I say "no" but I guess Wikipedia disagrees (technically limited-contact):

Terminology in the United States[edit]Current medical terminology in the United States uses the term collision sport to refer to sports like rugby, roller derby,American football, ice hockey, and lacrosse, the term contact sport to refer to sports such as soccer and basketball, and the term limited-contact sport to sports like squash and baseball.[1] The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement revised in 2008 included the following definitions:

In collision sports (eg, boxing, ice hockey, [American] football, lacrosse, and rodeo), athletes purposely hit or collide with each other or with inanimate objects (including the ground) with great force. In contact sports (eg, basketball and soccer), athletes routinely make contact with each other or inanimate objects but usually with less force than in collision sports. In limited-contact sports (eg, softball and squash), contact with other athletes or with inanimate objects is infrequent or inadvertent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_sport#cite_note-2[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_sport#cite_note-2

At the bottom of the same Wiki article, however, is this uncited nugget:

Non-contact sports are sports where participants compete alternately in lanes or are physically separated such as to make nearly impossible for them to make contact during the course of a game without committing an out-of-bounds offense or, more likely, disqualification. Examples include volleyball, baseball, softball, cricket, tennis, badminton, squash, golf, bowling, bowls, croquet, pool, snooker, darts, curling, bodybuilding, swimming, diving, running, sprinting, and gymnastics.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

That part at the bottom seems dumb. Based on the definition it provided, baseball and softball shouldn't be listed.

 

[sbonomo]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.

I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

There is definately full contact in Soccer. Baseball is no where near a contact sport. ETA Basket ball if full contact as well. Have you ever boxed out on the blocks? Drove the lane into the tree's. You are very wrong here.

 

[sbonomo]

Is boxing still a contact sport ?

barely.....

 

[Tom Servo]

Baseball is my favorite sport, but even I'm not dumb enough to insist that it's a contact sport.

Any "contact" between players is usually accidental, save the rare home plate collision.

 

[Bull Dozier]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Soccer is a contact sport...

Football and hockey are collision sports...

Wrong.

Putting baseball in the same group as basketball and soccer is wrong.

I agree, baseball is not in the tier with those two not even close.

Having a very rare chance for contact does not make baseball a contact sport imo. You won't go 5 minutes without a crunching tackle in soccer or a melee under the boards in basketball.

Crunching tackle and melee are a bit much. Soccer and NBA have a lot of emphasis on flopping/flailing around to influence the refs.

The NBA represents about .0000001% (or less, just throwing zeroes out there) of the organized basketball that is played. The couple of dozen well known floppers in the league are not sufficient enough to categorize the sport one way or the other.

I've coached enough youth basketball to be able to conclude that if you aren't willing to accept basketball as a contact sport, you aren't going to be very successful.

 

[The General]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.

I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

There is definately full contact in Soccer. Baseball is no where near a contact sport. ETA Basket ball if full contact as well. Have you ever boxed out on the blocks? Drove the lane into the tree's. You are very wrong here.

Soccer and basketball have contact but should not be listed in the same group as Hockey and Football.

 

[sbonomo]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.

I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

There is definately full contact in Soccer. Baseball is no where near a contact sport. ETA Basket ball if full contact as well. Have you ever boxed out on the blocks? Drove the lane into the tree's. You are very wrong here.

Soccer and basketball have contact but should not be listed in the same group as Hockey and Football.

completely agree - those two sports are more like car accidents at the professional level.

 

[johnnycakes]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

This got me thinking. Does Sumo count as combat?

 

[sbonomo]

Simple question which has been a point of debate between some people at work today. Do you, in your personal definition, consider baseball to be a "contact sport"?

Note that this is not a debate on the merits of baseball, whether you enjoy baseball, etc. Just a simple question - does baseball meet your definition of "contact sport"?

Yes, but barely.I think of this as different levels.

Non-contact: swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, most track and field events; any attempt to physically impede the opponent's progress is against the rules

Limited contact: soccer, basketball, baseball; allowed to come in physical contact with opponent during run of play, but with strict limitations

Full contact: football, hockey; collisions with opponent are part of the game, rules allow for high injury risk from contact with opponent

Combat: MMA, boxing; physically overwhelming opponent is object of game

This got me thinking. Does Sumo count as combat?

hell yes. those guys kill each other.