Are Baseball Players Really Athletes?

[2touringtheworld]

Many are making millions for playing a season. Even with these salaries, they are put on DISABLED lists with injuries like: (10 days worth from MLB website)

4/22/2008
	Cleveland Indians
	Placed RHP Jake Westbrook on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 20th, with a left intercostal strain;
	Colorado Rockies
	Placed LHP Micah Bowie on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left forearm;
	Texas Rangers
	Placed RHP Dustin Nippert on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right foot;
4/20/2008	Cincinnati Reds
	Placed RHP David Weathers on the 15-day disabled list with ulnar nerve irritation in his right elbow.
	Houston Astros
	Placed LHP Wandy Rodriguez on the 15-day disabled list with a groin injury
	Oakland Athletics
	Placed RHP Keith Foulke on the disabled list with neck stiffness retroactive to April 11.
	Minnesota Twins
	Placed SS Adam Everett on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 15, with a right shoulder strain
	San Francisco Giants
	Placed LHP Erick Threets on the 15-day disabled list with a right intercostal strain
4/18/2008	Atlanta Braves
	Placed LHP Tom Glavine on the 15-day disabled list.
	Florida Marlins
	Placed RHP Lee Gardner on 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation. Transferred RHP Sergio Mitre to the 60-day disabled list.
	Los Angeles Angels
	Placed 2B Howard Kendrick on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14, with a strained left hamstring; recalled INF Sean Rodriguez from Triple-A Salt Lake.
	Washington Nationals
	Placed C Paul Lo Duca on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14, with a bruised right hand.
	Kansas City Royals
	Placed LHP John Bale on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 16, with left shoulder fatigue.
	Texas Rangers
	Placed OF Marlon Byrd on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee; Recalled RHP Thomas Diamond from Double-A Frisco and placed him on the 60-day disabled list recovering from March 2007 Tommy John surgery.
	Toronto Blue Jays
	Placed RHP Brian Wolfe on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps; Recalled LHP David Purcey from Triple-A Syracuse.
4/16/2008	Boston Red Sox
	Placed IF Alex Cora on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 10, with a right elbow sprain.
	Chicago Cubs
	Placed OF Alfonso Soriano on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf;
4/15/2008	Atlanta Braves
	Placed RHP Peter Moylan on the 15-day DL;
	Cleveland Indians
	Placed RHP Joe Borowski on the 15-day disabled list with a right triceps strain;
	Seattle Mariners
	Placed LHP Erik Bedard on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 9, with inflammation in his left hip.
	Seattle Mariners
	Placed OF Mike Morse on 15-day disabled list with a dislocated left shoulder;

Are these guys overpaid pussies or highly tuned athletes? Just askin...

[wxwax]

Hmm, good question.

Any self-inflicted head injuries?

[Skibum]

Biggest issue in baseball is there are very few days off to heal nagging injuries. The other issue in regards to pitchers is pitching puts incredible torgue and force on the shoulder and elbow. Watch some super slow motion shots sometime.

[GuyD]

Of course they are athletes, just look at all the steroids they use, LOL. While the sport may look "unathletic" when compared to football or basketball almost every single major leaguer also excelled at other sports earlier in their lives. John Kruk and that whole Phillies team was the shiz nit though, I still have a Lenny Dykstra Phillies hat somewhere.

[EvilGenius]

Originally Posted by Skibum

Biggest issue in baseball is there are very few days off to heal nagging injuries. The other issue in regards to pitchers is pitching puts incredible torgue and force on the shoulder and elbow. Watch some super slow motion shots sometime.

I agree. Perhaps they're not super athletic like other major league sports, but they're usually still in pretty good shape and some of the better ones stick around for a long long time compared to other sports.

Just throwing things, especially as hard as you can, almost all the time can really take it out of you. I pinched a nerve or something pretty bad a few months back at work throwing a large piece of wood bracing across our dock and into our trash chute. It wasn't that heavy, I just wasn't in the right body position for how heavy it ended up being and to throw it that hard. It's fine now but it was so sore, I had trouble raising my hand above shoulder height for about a week.

I do believe some of them are over payed though. *cough*A-rod*cough*

[GS Weaver]

The pitchers are athletic. It takes considerable skill and strength to throw a ball 90mph for 2 hours with that kind of accuracy.

Every single one of them are highly, highly, grossly, disgustingly overpaid though. It costs a family $400 to go to a Yankee's game nowadays because their budget is $209 million fucking dollars.

http://www.sportscity.com/MLB/New-York-Yankees-Salaries

Player	Salary
Alex Rodriguez	$28,000,000
Jason Giambi	$23,428,571
Derek Jeter	$21,600,000
Bobby Abreu	$16,000,000
Andy Pettitte	$16,000,000
Mariano Rivera	$15,000,000
Jorge Posada	$13,100,000
Johnny Damon	$13,000,000
Hideki Matsui	$13,000,000
Mike Mussina	$11,071,029
Carl Pavano	$11,000,000
Kyle Farnsworth	$5,916,666
Chien-Ming Wang	$4,000,000
LaTroy Hawkins	$3,750,000
Robinson Cano	$3,000,000
Jose Molina	$1,875,000
Morgan Ensberg	$1,750,000
Andrew Brackman	$1,184,788
Wilson Betemit	$1,165,000
Brian Bruney	$725,000
Billy Traber	$500,000
Melky Cabrera	$461,200
Phil Hughes	$406,350
Shelley Duncan	$398,300
Sean Henn	$397,448
Ian Kennedy	$394,275
Jeffrey Karstens	$393,300
Jon Albaladejo	$393,225
Ross Ohlendorf	$391,425
Joba Chamberlain	$390,000
Humberto Sanchez	$390,000
Total	$209,081,577

[heynowref]

Fuck No!

[Skibum]

Hitting a pitched ball at the major league level is the most difficult single action in all of sports As far as over paid, blame the owners. If you could talk your boss into giving you a $100 million contract more power to you.

[Jamie Z]

Originally Posted by GS Weaver

Every single one of them are highly, highly, grossly, disgustingly overpaid though. It costs a family $400 to go to a Yankee's game nowadays because their budget is $209 million fucking dollars.

Overpaid based on what standard? they earn what someone is willing to pay them. If families are willing to pay $400 to see a baseball game (and hoards of families are) then teams can afford to acquire the best players possible.

It's the market economy at its finest. The demand for skilled players is enormous and the supply of skilled players is tiny.

It's not like they're taking money from schools and starving kids.

Jamie

[smokinjoe]

This is one of those areas that really pisses me off. They get paid millions to PLAY sports, then they strike for more money. That's bullshit. This country has people doing a lot more dangerous work for far better reasons being paid far less money.

[Dranrab Luap]

John Kruk when asked about his tobacco use as an athlete and a role model, quipped "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player." Nothing more need be said.

[2touringtheworld]

That's why I really like John Kruk.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Dranrab Luap

John Kruk when asked about his tobacco use as an athlete and a role model, quipped "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player." Nothing more need be said.

Best.
Quote.
EVER.

[GeoDiablo]

Originally Posted by 2touringtheworld

Are these guys overpaid pussies or highly tuned athletes? Just askin...

[2touringtheworld]

Originally Posted by GeoDiablo

At least I asked.