speed

[wordslayer©]

I remember something that Bill James wrote sometime back regarding athleticism and baseball. I remember it because it struck me as something that I would never have guessed.

He made the argument that a lot of the best athletes were in baseball and not football and basketball. This, on the surface, just kind of flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

He made an argument and listed several players who were very good athletes in football or basketball, but could not make the transition to be good baseball players. Baseball, in essence, was just too quick of a sport.

He went on to say that, overall, baseball has the fastest players of either of the other two glamor sports. He made the argument that center fielders were as fast as the defensive backs and wide receivers in football. He also said that basketball players just weren't nearly as fast as baseball players.

I think his closing line of the article was, "Put Kobe Bryant or Lebron James at third and let them field a 110 mph hit off the bat and I guarantee you that the ball would be past them before they ever moved their feet, no less attempt to catch/field the ball."

[barvos4evr]

I love Bill James. However... he is forgetting that one trains in ones entity! Yeah Kobe would never see the line drive down the third base line! But Mike Schmidt would never think about dropping the deep zone and picking up the point guard to avoid the pick and roll either.

I don't think that one can make proclamations about one sports athleticism above anothers because they are specific disciplines learned over time. Honed to dadburn near perfection.

[wordslayer©]

I really was too liberal with the use of the word athlete. His thoughts were mainly on speed and quickness.

[IkeWagner]

It seems bravos reasoning applies just as well to speed and quickness as to athleticism. Sport-specificity.