Quote:
Originally Posted by highthief
Of course, where is getting the end result harder?
Yes, the specific act of hitting a really hard fastball is difficult, but in baseball, the end result is to score runs. And that is relatively easy to do, even at MLB level where typical scores are quite high (8-5, 7-6, 6-3, etc), never mind at the level most play at, where some truly mind boggling scores can be registered.
Achieving the end result at high level football (Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga) is much, much harder. It's not as simple as "hitting a ball into the net from 20 yards" - it's about beating defenders, and keepers, in addition to a fairly complicated ability to control and hit a moving ball accurately.
Even looking at individual play, a top hitter in the pros will hit 1/3 of the time. A top striker will not score 1/3 of the time he is in possession within 18 yards of the goal.
Looking at average players - the average person can get up off the couch and play a full nine innnings of baseball. The average person CANNOT get off the couch and go play 90 minutes of football. Like I said, I play both, and the physicality required to play all but a couple of position in baseball is minute compared to other sports. So when you say "60 year olds can run marathons", well, they play baseball too.
Still, comparing the two is a bit silly - they are very, very different.
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Your points are good, as is the case in any lively debate, and ultimately your final point is ultimately the most true, this is apples and oranges. But for the sake of argument...
Hitting a ball is difficult, but so is fielding, throwing and catching the ball, which is some of the reason for the high scores at the lower levels of the game.
As far as the good players succeeding in getting hits at a higher rate than good players scoring, a more apt comparison would probably be hitting a home run, vs. scoring a goal. A good power hitter will hit maybe one every 12 at bats or so (most far less), which is probably around the same rate that a good striker will score with an open shot in the box. Other hits are probably like good runs in the offensive zone that don't necessarily equate to goals.