Does any sport provide more anxiety than a close baseball game?

[Taadow]

Nah.

There's far too much inactivity and 'down' periods in beisbol (tension release during inning breaks) compared to shyt like basketball and hockey where you have less time to collect your thoughts and/or perspective on what's going on.

No no no no no.

Those are not 'down' periods, because the game is still being played.
And when you have time to collect your thoughts and/or perspective on what's going on, it can be WORSE
because you keep thinking of what could happen if you don't execute your plan perfectly. This is compounded
by the fact that baseball is the ONLY sport where the defense dictates the pace of the game.

The only sport where I would say the tension is as high as a close baseball game is the Olympic 100 Yard Dash.

 

[jadillac]

Still didn't touch the anxiety tied to last night.

That between pitches bullshyt just has you like

the constant foul balls might be the most stressful part.

Whether it's ur team or the other

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

I don't fukk with baseball at all, but I think this is a fair statement. The "inactivity" actually works in its favor here.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

No no no no no.

Yes yes yes yes yes.

Those are not 'down' periods, because the game is still being played.
And when you have time to collect your thoughts and/or perspective on what's going on, it can be WORSE.

But it's not typically because when you're watching a game that's constant chaos you have don't have complete understanding of what's going to happen next like you do with beisbol. Down periods I mean breaks between innings - the game is not being played. Or delays during a game where the tension is released. In a close game down the stretch of a basketball game the lead can change at any given moment - no team is ever in control for a period like they are in beisbol. The "stress" isn't as high when the team who's batting is in front. The "stress" is at a constant in basketball because the lead can change on every possession.

You have a whole innings where a team could be one run or two runs ahead and it would pale in comparison to a one/two-possession game of basketball where the stress is at a constant.

it can be WORSE because you keep thinking of what could happen if you don't execute your plan perfectly.

As opposed to basketball where shyt like that doesn't happen?

by the fact that baseball is the ONLY sport where the defense dictates the pace of the game..

And that's relevant because?

The only sport where I would say the tension is as high as a close baseball game is the Olympic 100 Yard Dash.

This doesn't even make any sense.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Yes yes yes yes yes.

But it's not typically because when you're watching a game that's constant chaos you have don't have complete understanding of what's going to happen next like you do with beisbol. Down periods I mean breaks between innings - the game is not being played. Or delays during a game where the tension is released. In a close game down the stretch of a basketball game the lead can change at any given moment - no team is ever in control for a period like they are in beisbol. The "stress" isn't as high when the team who's batting is in front. The "stress" is at a constant in basketball because the lead can change on every possession.

You have a whole innings where a team could be one run or two runs ahead and it would pale in comparison to a one/two-possession game of basketball where the stress is at a constant.

As opposed to basketball where shyt like that doesn't happen?

And that's relevant because?

This doesn't even make any sense.

Breaks between innings are no different than commercial timeouts.
Tension isn/t released with baseball inactivity of a close game. Your mind is racing, which is very much an activity.

I don't think you appreciate the thinking part of it all or really engaged in it.

 

[KOBE]

I think playoffs hockey is comparable especially the games that go to multiple overtimes because the first goal scored wins and all the players are battling against exhaustion.

This is correct, there's nothing like hockey when it goes to multiple overtimes because just about anything can win the game. Around triple overtime it just gets dumb just how tired the players are. People don't even seem to grasp just how tired the players would be either, well at least on here, because the OTs are 20 minutes long in the playoffs. A triple overtime means the game is literally going twice as long as it was meant to.

Basketball and football players most likely couldn't go for double the duration of their game.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Breaks between innings are no different than commercial timeouts.
Tension isn/t released with baseball inactivity of a close game. Your mind is racing, which is very much an activity..

It is actually, certainly when the inactivity during a basketball game is basically bringing the ball out of bounds. Your mind doesn't race during basketball? There's more tension releases in beisbol because one team can be in control for a structured period of time.

I don't think you appreciate the thinking part of it all or really engaged in it.

I do appreciate it, and I'm not suggesting that it doesn't "provide anxiety", I'm just saying it doesn't provide more than basketball. I don't see how a team leading 3-2 at the top of the 9th can compare to a NBA game where the scores are within one to two possessions with only a few minutes to go. The trepidation only really begins to reach a comparable height at the bottom of the 9th (that's even before we get into what's actually happening), where the last two minutes of a NBA game are basically the meat of a 3rd act of a Alfred Hitchcock film.

 

[GoldenGlove]

One of my old coaches dropped this dime on our team back when I played ball...

"Baseball's a slow game, but shyt can happen REALLY FAST"


You get comfortable or too chill and boom, before you know it you're in pressure filled situation... or in a tie game. The 8th inning in last night's game was crazy because the Cubs were in control the majority of the game, had their ace in the hole on the mound, but the Indians still could have taken the lead going into the 9th and flipped the script entirely

 

[Brozay]

Yes yes yes yes yes.

But it's not typically because when you're watching a game that's constant chaos you have don't have complete understanding of what's going to happen next like you do with beisbol. Down periods I mean breaks between innings - the game is not being played. Or delays during a game where the tension is released. In a close game down the stretch of a basketball game the lead can change at any given moment - no team is ever in control for a period like they are in beisbol. The "stress" isn't as high when the team who's batting is in front. The "stress" is at a constant in basketball because the lead can change on every possession.

You have a whole innings where a team could be one run or two runs ahead and it would pale in comparison to a one/two-possession game of basketball where the stress is at a constant.

As opposed to basketball where shyt like that doesn't happen?

And that's relevant because?

This doesn't even make any sense.

I gotta 100% disagree with you on this one.

You must not watch baseball

 

[NYC Rebel]

It is actually, certainly when the inactivity during a basketball game is basically bringing the ball out of bounds. Your mind doesn't race during basketball? There's more tension releases in beisbol because one team can be in control for a structured period of time.

I do appreciate it, and I'm not suggesting that it doesn't "provide anxiety", I'm just saying it doesn't provide more than basketball. I don't see how a team leading 3-2 at the top of the 9th can compare to a NBA game where the scores are within one to two possessions with only a few minutes to go. The trepidation only really begins to reach a comparable height at the bottom of the 9th (that's even before we get into what's actually happening), where the last two minutes of a NBA game are basically the meat of a 3rd act of a Alfred Hitchcock film.

You're the only one in here who called it inacitivity while everyone pointed out the activity tied to the down in action.

Leads me to believe you truly never engaged or cared about the mental aspect of baseball everyone else in here is seeing.

 

[NYC Rebel]

I gotta 100% disagree with you on this one.

You must not watch baseball

It's obvious.

 

[resurrection]

Gotta agree with playoff hockey.. shyt is too stressful

 

[Brozay]

It's obvious.

To say the tension dies during inning breaks is just wrong. If anything its intensified, just like a well paced TV show or movie that let's the drama build slowly and tactically. There's no shot clocks, no time clock, it's just go get 3 outs, period. It's the opposite effect in basketball with all the timeouts and fouls at end of games. I wish the NBA would adopt the FIBA rule of no timeouts during live ball play. Now THAT would help increase tension and make for more moments

 

[ikbm]

its the slow burn...the build up
especially if you have no faith in a reliever...its like a slow burn to disappointment
shoutout to benitez.
theres too many variables...a pitcher could be in complete control...0-2 counts and one mistake can ruin the complexion of an inning or a game
shyt....the dude that tagged from 1st to 2nd on that flyball in extra innings just changed the direction of that inning and series.
being a mets fan...im used to the disappointment...so i get cautiously optimistic but i wait and wait for the shoe to drop.....and it still burns all the same when i expect it

 

[Taadow]

But it's not typically because when you're watching a game that's constant chaos you have don't have complete understanding of what's going to happen next like you do with beisbol.

There's not a point in a baseball game ever when you "have complete understanding of what's going to happen next",
because you don't know what's gonna happen next. All you have is (often times multiple) scenarios of what might happen next,
and that is what can be nerve-racking.

Down periods I mean breaks between innings - the game is not being played. Or delays during a game where the tension is released.

Tension is not "released" between innings in a close baseball game.

Were talkin' about close games.

In a close game down the stretch of a basketball game the lead can change at any given moment - no team is ever in control for a period like they are in beisbol. The "stress" isn't as high when the team who's batting is in front. The "stress" is at a constant in basketball because the lead can change on every possession.

You have a whole innings where a team could be one run or two runs ahead and it would pale in comparison to a one/two-possession game of basketball where the stress is at a constant.

This reads to me like you think "stress" is contingent mainly on who's winning.

It's not for baseball.

As opposed to basketball where shyt like that doesn't happen?

In basketball, that chit doesn't happen as much as in baseball.

If you have the ball in a close basketball game with (let's say) 5 seconds left and you're down a couple points,
everybody knows what's gonna happen in a given situation. 9 times out of 10, you're gonna try to get the ball to the
best scorer with "ice in his viens" or "clutch gene" and he can let his instincts/talent lead him. You don't have the option
to do that in baseball.

And that's relevant because?

It's relevant because if you need a score to win and your team is on offense in any other sport but baseball,
your destiny is in your own hands. That fact that this is not so in baseball adds to your anxiety on offense in a close game.

This doesn't even make any sense.

You don't even know why I said that, so you can't know whether or not it doesn't make any sense yet. But okay.