The goal of this blog is to provide a research-based definition of characteristics that make an athlete, to allow my readers to interject their comments (hopefully fact based), and to continue the conversation/debate on the topic of athleticism of baseball players.
In fairness to all athletes, the foundation of the question of this topic is to define athlete. Definitions vary but a constant is that an ‘athlete is a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength’.1 Webster defines athlete as a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.2
Now that we have a couple definitions of athletes, let me answer these questions to help us ascertain why baseball players are or are not considered to be “elite” athletes
Salary
Does the fastest, strongest, and most skilled athlete on each team always get paid the most? Do the top athletes get paid top salaries? Forbes provided a list of the top 25 highest paid athletes in professional sports in the WORLD.3
The list and the number of athletes represented by their sport is listed below:
- Football-6 athletes
- Soccer-5 athletes
- Golf-4 athletes,
- Basketball-3 athletes
- Racing-3 athletes
- Tennis-3 athletes
- Boxing-1 athletes
- Baseball-0 athletes
USA Today provides some interesting data about which professional league gets paid the highest annual salary. “Though Sporting Intelligence was focused on average, their numbers could be used to find out which league paid the most in annual salaries this year (2014). According to the data, Major League Baseball paid $3.37 billion to its 856 players while the NFL was slightly behind, paying $3.32 billion to 1,696 players.”4 I averaged both numbers provided by USA Today and “the average” baseball player salary is near 4 million dollars, where “the average” football player salary is near 2 million dollars. What does this mean, that baseball players are considered to be better athletes than football players? If that were true, why is there not one baseball player listed in the Forbes top 25 paid athletes.
With the comparison shown of salaries paid to top athletes, does that affirm who is or is not the better athlete? Below is a link of comparison that will display a grid sponsored by ESPN and then judged by a group made up of sports scientists from the United States Olympic Committee, of academicians who study the science of muscles and movement, of a star two-sport athlete, and of journalists who spend their professional lives watching athletes succeed and fail.5 Click the link to review the grid.
The grid concludes that none of the four major professional sports that are believed to be the top skilled athletes are in that number one spot. Football came in in closest to the top at #3, Basketball #4, Baseball #9 and Soccer #10. Jeff Nelson published on RSVLTS the average playing career for the four majors from shortest to longest NFL 3.5 year, NBA 4.8 years, NHL 5.5 years, and MLB 5.6 years, we know that a baseball player’s higher average salary and is not due to a shorter career expectancy, does this place them as an elite athlete.6
Physical Appearance
The majority of sports enthusiast do not consider baseball players to be “elite” athletes. Are they are lacking in skill or athleticism? Could it be how we as spectators watch the game? Spectators view the majority of a baseball game watching pitchers and catchers toss the ball back and forth, and it is no secret that pitchers in the MLB have made a name for themselves to be overweight and some are even considered obese. Prime examples of these heavy dudes are CC Sabathia and David Wells, let’s not limit these heavy fellows to just pitchers, there are first and third baseman that could stand to lose a few pounds as well, like David Ortiz, Prince Fielder to name just a couple(the list is longer). Yes, these heavy beasts are overweight, and do not look like elite athletes but are accomplished baseball players with amazing skills and talents.
Individual Stats
Is it time to answer the question, “Are baseball players “really” elite athletes?” Baseball players are considered to be “more skilled” athletes than elite! Baseball is a skill related sport where athletes can be successful even if they are not big, fast, or strong. MLB does have many elite athletes, and there are also many successful average players as well that have a great understanding of the game with the passion to succeed. Baseball is considered a team sport, but recognized and played as an individual sport. Let me clear this up, each player although committed to their team, is recognized for their accomplishments as an individual player, ie.. all stats kept in baseball except wins\losses are individual stats. A team can have a bad season but there can be players that have a stellar year and vise versa.
Mental Game
Baseball is the mental game, a constant changing environment with each pitch and every hit. A game that can be slow and even boring at times and then an explosion of excitement to completely change the pace, this is why players must stay mentally focused for each for every single pitch.
Baseball athletes have been compared to other professional “elite” athletes, whereas a baseball player can transfer from baseball to another sport, it is said to be more difficult for other professional athletes to transfer from their sport to baseball. Not taking anything away from other professional athletes, and I would not say that baseball players are more athletic or can play basketball or football as well as they do at their sport. I will say that I have played, coached, and officiated each of these three sports and I believe that baseball is the more difficult to play, coach, and officiate. Baseball requires many different skills to be considered an accomplished player. There is just some extreme difficulty about hitting a baseball traveling toward you at 95mph.
Degree of Difficulty: Sport Rankings
| ||||||||||||
Boxing
|
8.63
|
8.13
|
8.63
|
6.38
|
6.25
|
4.38
|
8.88
|
8.50
|
7.00
|
5.63
|
72.375
|
1
|
Ice Hockey
|
7.25
|
7.13
|
7.88
|
7.75
|
7.63
|
4.88
|
6.00
|
8.25
|
7.50
|
7.50
|
71.750
|
2
|
Football
|
5.38
|
8.63
|
8.13
|
7.13
|
6.38
|
4.38
|
7.25
|
8.50
|
5.50
|
7.13
|
68.375
|
3
|
Basketball
|
7.38
|
6.25
|
6.50
|
7.25
|
8.13
|
5.63
|
4.13
|
7.75
|
7.50
|
7.38
|
67.875
|
4
|
Wrestling
|
6.63
|
8.38
|
7.13
|
5.13
|
6.38
|
7.50
|
5.00
|
6.75
|
4.25
|
6.38
|
63.500
|
5
|
Martial Arts
|
5.00
|
5.88
|
7.75
|
6.38
|
6.00
|
7.00
|
6.63
|
5.88
|
6.00
|
6.88
|
63.375
|
6
|
Tennis
|
7.25
|
5.13
|
7.13
|
6.75
|
7.75
|
5.63
|
3.00
|
5.00
|
8.38
|
6.75
|
62.750
|
7
|
Gymnastics
|
5.38
|
6.13
|
6.63
|
5.00
|
6.38
|
10.00
|
7.50
|
6.88
|
4.50
|
4.13
|
62.500
|
8
|
Baseball/Softball
|
4.63
|
5.75
|
7.63
|
6.50
|
6.75
|
4.75
|
5.13
|
5.63
|
9.25
|
6.25
|
62.250
|
9
|
Soccer
|
7.75
|
4.50
|
5.13
|
7.25
|
8.25
|
4.75
|
3.63
|
6.25
|
6.50
|
7.50
|
61.500
|
10
|
Skiing: Alpine
|
5.13
|
5.25
|
6.00
|
7.38
|
6.13
|
5.63
|
8.38
|
6.00
|
5.13
|
5.63
|
60.625
|
11
|
Water Polo
|
7.88
|
6.63
|
6.88
|
5.38
|
6.38
|
5.00
|
4.25
|
6.38
|
6.25
|
5.63
|
60.625
|
11
|
Rugby
|
6.75
|
7.00
|
6.38
|
5.88
|
6.00
|
4.13
|
6.50
|
7.88
|
4.38
|
5.63
|
60.500
|
13
|
Lacrosse
|
6.63
|
5.13
|
5.75
|
7.00
|
6.63
|
4.75
|
4.38
|
6.13
|
7.13
|
6.88
|
60.375
|
14
|
Rodeo: Steer Wrestling
|
4.00
|
7.00
|
7.88
|
3.88
|
4.88
|
5.00
|
7.88
|
6.88
|
5.13
|
4.00
|
56.500
|
15
|
Retrieved from: http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills
References
1 Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). Athlete. Retrieved from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete
2 Dictionary.com Unabridged. (n.d.). Athlete. Retrieved from: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/athlete
3 DeSantes, N. (2016, June). The top 25 highest-paid athletes of 2016, visualized. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickdesantis/2016/06/20/the-top-25-highest-paid-athletes-of-2016-visualized/#1dbf05a721e4
4 Chase, C. (2014, April). Which team has the highest paid athletes in sports? USA Today Sports. Retrieved from: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/highest-paid-athletes-manchester-city-yankees
5 Caple, J., Davis, P., Jordan, B., Knisley, M., Mckendry, C., Page, J., & Watkins, B. (n.d.). Boxing knockout punch. ESPN.com. Retrieved from: http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills
6 Nelson, J. (2013, July). The longest professional sports careers. RSVLTS. Retrieved from: http://www.rsvlts.com/2013/07/22/longest-sports-careers/
