We should have baseball teams here!!

6pack

6pack

ex-Mod
Cricket is boring. I want to watch Indian baseball teams from each state challenge for a baseball cup. Plus it will give the guys who couldn't make it to the cricket team a chance in baseball. Same 11 people playing at once with 11 as standby.

Saw an anime - Ace of Diamond. Baseball is really interesting in my opinion.
 
We need many more sporting teams and a sporting culture, but who's paying for it?

We hardly have any sports stadiums and in larger cities, most facilities are out of reach for less well off people. Mumbai, especially, hardly has any parks or playgrounds where you can just go and play.

The money is there in big cities, but the possibility of sporting infrastructure is only there in smaller cities. At this points, the logistics of creating new sports teams is just impossible.
 
Do they play cricket 365 days of the year in the current stadiums? Genuinely asking. Do they practice everyday in stadium?
 
6pack said:
Do they play cricket 365 days of the year in the current stadiums? Genuinely asking. Do they practice everyday in stadium?
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Hypothetical questions are not going to help. Do you think just because there is no cricket match, the stadium is available to the public for free?
 
gourav said:
Do you think just because there is no cricket match, the stadium is available to the public for free?
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If you don't know the answer, no need to act so smug about it. Anyway a quick Google search shows its free.

IMG_20221126_161921.jpg
 
6pack said:
If you don't know the answer, no need to act so smug about it. Anyway a quick Google search shows its free.
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Cricket stadiums when not in use, are used by private clubs who have decades long waiting period and the memberships cost many lakhs. Other times they are given to schools, collages and corporate teams. Non-important stadiums even host private parties, wedding ceremonies, concerts etc. In any case, they won't give it to a non-cricket sports as it will destroy the ground.
 
6pack said:
you don't know the answer, no need to act so smug about it.
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Lol, I'm not acting smug or anything. I was just stating why India lags behind in sports.

Ok, so Wankhede is freely available. So how many people do you think can practice regularly in Wankhede at the same time?

Sporting infrastructure doesn't mean a couple of stadiums in a city. It means lots of parks and playgrounds. People are not going to travel 20-40 kilometre to Wankhede to practice even if it's available. Playgrounds need to be there at accessible distance for children to even build an interest in sports. You need hundreds of people playing a sport for some good players to come out. You can't just select 11 people at random and ask them to practice at wankhede and build a world class team.

Also, regarding the screenshot you posted, entry doesn't mean you can go and use the ground for playing baseball. Please confirm what this entry entails, most likely it will only give access to the stands, not the ground itself.
 
gourav said:
We need many more sporting teams and a sporting culture, but who's paying for it?
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The question was being asked when the idea of T20 league was going around.
lockhrt999 said:
Baseball is boring.
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That's what they said about T20 too. What blasphemy it is. Like junk food.

Everybody knows the real deal is the 5 day match :D
gourav said:
Sporting infrastructure doesn't mean a couple of stadiums in a city. It means lots of parks and playgrounds. People are not going to travel 20-40 kilometre to Wankhede to practice even if it's available. Playgrounds need to be there at accessible distance for children to even build an interest in sports. You need hundreds of people playing a sport for some good players to come out. You can't just select 11 people at random and ask them to practice at wankhede and build a world class team.
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The T20 teams will have to set up schools where promising youngsters can join like happens in Europe for football. These kids are already pro-level by the time they exit their teens.

This takes investment and a long-term view which is rare in India where it is about a fast buck and guaranteed returns. Govt has to incentivise it.
6pack said:
Cricket is boring. I want to watch Indian baseball teams from each state challenge for a baseball cup. Plus it will give the guys who couldn't make it to the cricket team a chance in baseball. Same 11 people playing at once with 11 as standby.

Saw an anime - Ace of Diamond. Baseball is really interesting in my opinion.
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Ah, so that's where you got the idea. I'm amused you're into anime.
 
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blr_p said:
This takes investment and a long-term view which is rare in India where it is about a fast buck and guaranteed returns. Govt has to incentivise it.
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That's exactly what I was saying, that it needs money and there's nobody who's ready to pay for it.
 
Huh.

I've been interested in baseball for more than 20+ years, ever since I got 'Bad News Baseball' for the NES when I was a little kid in the early 90s. (The NES was a hand-me-down from my cousins and it was impossible to find new game cartridges for it in India - so that was one of the 3 games I was stuck with).

My interest has waxed and waned over the years, but I still try and follow the headlines and the trades between teams (there are 30 teams in the league and each team play 160+ games over a season).

At the same time, I think it's pointless for India to invest in a sport when there is little to no following. Instead, it would make more sense to sink our resources in other global sports like football, tennis, basketball (maybe) which average people understand and can follow.

There is a baseball federation in India. About 3-4 years back I did a bit of cursory research on them. Like most sports feds, they had an ancient looking website, it seemed to be filled with more office bearers/ politicians than players. I may be wrong, and I hope the situation has improved since then.

That said, baseball is called America's pastime, and I can understand why. It is really relaxing to watch.

P.S. The MLB season is over for now, the Houston Astros won the World Series (unfortunately). But for people looking to get into baseball, Jomboy on Youtube is a good option, he makes bite-sized breakdowns from baseball games . Once the regular season starts next year, Youtube usually livestreams a 'game of the week' on the official MLB channel (though Indian timings may be an issue). Try and catch a game sometime.
 
letmein said:
I've been interested in baseball for more than 20+ years, ever since I got 'Bad News Baseball' for the NES when I was a little kid in the early 90s. (The NES was a hand-me-down from my cousins and it was impossible to find new game cartridges for it in India - so that was one of the 3 games I was stuck with).
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Yup. I learnt it on NES too.
 
letmein said:
At the same time, I think it's pointless for India to invest in a sport when there is little to no following. Instead, it would make more sense to sink our resources in other global sports like football, tennis, basketball (maybe) which average people understand and can follow.
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You left out hockey. We used to be good at that then the turf changed the game got much faster and we never recovered.
gourav said:
That's exactly what I was saying, that it needs money and there's nobody who's ready to pay for it.
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Western govts had a political incentive. During the cold war, It was important for the free world to be seen winning in major tournaments as it was for the commies.

As a third pole, we've had no such compunctions.
 
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