A splendid non-premium column by Derek Zumsteg to clip and save for the next time you encounter a "diluted talent" lummox:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3501
"...there are 280 million potential baseball players in the world, or 9.3 million potential male baseball players per team. And these potential players are motivated to take up baseball as a living. Baseball teams can better locate and recruit them, and once they're playing they'll be better protected from career-ending injury than at any other time in baseball's history.
How can it be possible that baseball is diluted? Compared to what?"
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)
What he hasn't considered is the influence of other sports. There may be 280 million potential players based on age alone, but suppose 200 million of those are off to play football and basketball. That leaves 80 million for baseball, which is a lot (suppose we're in a world where only three sports exist).
But the question is, are the 200 million that went off to play other sports the best athletes out of the entire talent pool? What if those basketball players had picked up a bat and glove instead? Would the level of competition be any higher?
So does baseball get a higher percentage of the "best" athletes now, compared to 75 years ago? (of course, how to define who the "best" athletes are is a very inexact science)
But in general, I think the talent pool in any sport cannot become diluted if the game becomes increasingly internationalized. I just cannot believe that the talent can get worse if you delimit yourself from picking out of a pool of Americans (white ones, pre-1947) and instead pick from a more populated pool of people from USA, Canada, Japan, several countries from the Carribbean and South America, etc.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)
So does baseball get a higher percentage of the "best" athletes now, compared to 75 years ago? btw, my feeling is "no", because there are many more major sports, plus greater emphasis and money directed to amateur (college, Olympic) sports.
But the international pool does a lot to make up for it.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)
How I despise filthy liars like you, Derek Zumsteg
― some crazy old fucker (natepatrin), Thursday, 7 October 2004 02:47 (twenty-one years ago)