Bat & Ball Games

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

It's not always about Meowth, Bulbagarden... It's about the Mets, baby, love the Mets! Alright baby let's go, get a home run baby, love the Mets! Let's go Mets!

Anyway, figured I'd put something here for the people who take an interest in games like baseball, softball, cricket, etc.

Anyone here watch the Pacific League for baseball? I wanted to watch the Saitama Seibu Lions cause I love their mascot, Leo, but I've struggled to figure out how exactly to go about that. My TV actually has KBO games from Korea but for some reason they use AI translated announcers so it sounds like I'm watching a TikTok the entire time and it makes me feel like I'm slowly going insane.

 

[Princess Viola]

GO RED SOX

FUCK THE YANKEES

my baseball opinion right there

 

[nuvematown]

HERE WE GO BREWERS RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

GO RED SOX

FUCK THE YANKEES

my baseball opinion right there

This guy is the extent of my knowledge on the Red Sox.

 

[JacobChu]

Go Braves! Chop on!

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

ACCEPT MY PAYMENT INFORMATION PACIFIC LEAGUE PLEASE PLEEEEAAASE WHY DO YOU DENY ME I JUST WANT TO SEE YOUR CUTE LION MASCOT DONT DO THIS TO ME

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

GO RED SOX

FUCK THE YANKEES

my baseball opinion right there

As a New Englander I understand this sentiment.

 

[Princess Viola]

Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: people who get mad about how the winner of the World Series call themselves 'world champions' and claim it's just American arrogance are just demonstrating their lack of knowledge about baseball. Major League Baseball is the premier league for the damn sport, it's the league that attracts the highest performing talent from all over the world. Not saying this to disparage the leagues in other countries, but there's a reason why tons of the top players from other countries eventually make the movie to the MLB - because why wouldn't you wanna play in the best league there is for the sport you've dedicated your life to?

So yes, I would say it is more than fair for the best team in the top league for the entire sport of baseball to call themselves 'world champions'.

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: people who get mad about how the winner of the World Series call themselves 'world champions' and claim it's just American arrogance are just demonstrating their lack of knowledge about baseball. Major League Baseball is the premier league for the damn sport, it's the league that attracts the highest performing talent from all over the world. Not saying this to disparage the leagues in other countries, but there's a reason why tons of the top players from other countries eventually make the movie to the MLB - because why wouldn't you wanna play in the best league there is for the sport you've dedicated your life to?

So yes, I would say it is more than fair for the best team in the top league for the entire sport of baseball to call themselves 'world champions'.

Truth nuke but it's also just how much cash we invest into the sport. You're not gonna see Cuba invest kirkillions into an All-Star team like the MLB would, for better or worse. I do think it'd be nice to have some competition though. We already have big Korean and Japanese baseball scenes. I'm trying to convert my friend in China as we speak. Soon we will rule the world of sports. RAHHHHHHHH

 

[Blast]

Fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: people who get mad about how the winner of the World Series call themselves 'world champions' and claim it's just American arrogance are just demonstrating their lack of knowledge about baseball. Major League Baseball is the premier league for the damn sport, it's the league that attracts the highest performing talent from all over the world. Not saying this to disparage the leagues in other countries, but there's a reason why tons of the top players from other countries eventually make the movie to the MLB - because why wouldn't you wanna play in the best league there is for the sport you've dedicated your life to?

So yes, I would say it is more than fair for the best team in the top league for the entire sport of baseball to call themselves 'world champions'.

I'm also gonna say it, this isn't logical. It doesn't matter if MLB teams are far better and richer or would theoretically beat any team from another nation, it's still a domestic competition in essence. Calling yourself world champions without allowing international teams in your competitions is American arrogance imo.

The winners of the Champions League don't call themselves world champions either when it's clear Europa is the dominant (financial) force in football. It is fair to say the UCL winners are the strongest team in the world, no one could really argue against that. Nevertheless, in order to gain the title of world champions they have to win the Club World Cup (previously Continental Cup), usually against the South American champions. Yes, the European teams win almost every time nowadays, but at least they still compete for the title intercontinentally.

Baseball is also a sport played across continents with strong domestic competitions as well. Reminder that Japan won the WBC against the US with players who played in the NBP. The teams in those leagues can never be allowed into the MLB, meaning that there's no chance to even attempt to win the world champion title. Makes no sense. Furthermore, not only the top teams play a role in the road to the championship. For example, they still need to beat the weaker teams throughout the season to rack up wins in order to make to the playoffs. Can you say the weakest MLB team would beat the winners of the Korean or Japanese league every time? If not, why can't they compete for a place to enter into the league and grow stronger there over time while those American teams can? Because it's a domestic competition that bars teams from other nations to play even a single competitive game against them by default regardless of their relative strength compared to even the weakest MLB teams.

If all teams from all continents except for one are unable to compete to be world champions, what does that title really mean? You are the winner of the strongest and richest league in the world of that sport. That's the truth. You might argue you could rightfully call yourself the best team in the world. However, excluding most of the globe in the so-called "world championship" is an antithetical exercise.

Looking at a smaller like korfball (doubt you heard of it but that's the point), there's practically only two competitive nations that compete for the world and European championship title every edition with their club teams in the final of the European championship every year. Very little exceptions. This is an even clearer example of certain leagues and nations completely blowing the rest of the world out of the water in a certain sport. In fact, the matchup in the final of both the world championship and European championship has been the exact same on all but 2 occasions.

Clearly, whoever wins that matchup in whatever competition is the strongest team in the world at that time. The same could be said for the club teams from their respective nations. So does the winner of that matchup in the European championship final call themselves world champions after proving themselves to be the best in the world beyond doubt? No, they only gain the right to call themselves European champions due to the nature of that competition. Sound logic. Again, same story for the club competitions.

Why do you think in world or continental championships of almost any team sport the teams are seeded so one can't win the title without facing opponents from other continents or nations? Because it's a global competition, no matter what region is perceived to be superior. If you think the logic I laid for you doesn't apply specifically to the American club baseball league, I'd argue that is in fact American arrogance (or at least American exceptionalism) and is demostrating a lack of knowledge of world sports competitions. You don't have to agree, but this is my conviction. Face the world first before you claim to have conquered it.

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

Can you say the weakest MLB team would beat the winners of the Korean or Japanese league every time?

"Did we do it.. did we beat the Yankees?"
"Those were the Mariners"

But jokes aside I think it'd be really cool if the winners of MLB could face off against the winners of all the other leagues in a big contest. Maybe over the years having this incentive to fight against the MLB would attract some talent that would give them a run for their money. Plus I'd finally get to root for Leo the Lion on the world stage. It'd be funny if a random team just crushed everyone out of nowhere. Like the Yaquis de Obregón or something.

 

[Pigrider09]

Time for my hockey knowledge to take center stage! Oh wait, this isn’t… hockey. Oh.

GO GUARDS WOOOO I LOVE TEAMS NAMED AFTER BRIDGES (seriously it should’ve been the rockers after the rock and roll hof… or at least something better than guardians… but I digress)

Reminder that Japan won the WBC against the US with players who played in the NBP.

They also had a few mlb players, including this one lesser known guy… Shohei Ohtani? Idk, probably isn’t that good.

Anyways I think the reason that world champion of baseball does still work is that MLB is a world league in the sense that players from all over the world make up MLB rosters. A lot of players, arguably some of the best players, are from Asia or Latin America. Yes, international leagues from also have great players which play in their home country’s leagues. But a vast majority of the time, a competitive MLB team will attract and draft premier talent from all over the world. Thus, this competitive team which eventually wins the World Series will have players from multiple national origins, and will be not just the national champions, but the world champions.

Can you say the weakest MLB team would beat the winners of the Korean or Japanese league every time?

No, because the worst MLB teams don’t try to win. A salary floor is needed for this argument to work… and for the MLB to work. And a salary cap too.

If not, why can't they compete for a place to enter into the league and grow stronger there over time while those American teams can? Because it's a domestic competition that bars teams from other nations to play even a single competitive game against them by default regardless of their relative strength compared to even the weakest MLB teams.

Can you imagine the hell it would be for east coast teams to travel to play this supposed Japanese or Korean team? Yeah Mets just travel to Japan after a rough 3 game series… make sure you get back fast too, the Yankees are waiting for you back at home! And vise versa especially, with this hypothetical team spending half their games overseas. TBF, I could see a Dominican team or something similar working out in the mlb just based off of geographical factors and regional popularity…

Also, if this hypothetical team entered into the MLB as an expansion team, it’s not like it would continue to be, yknow, an all Korean team that is also in the MLB. They would also take part in the draft and sign players from all around the world, unless they wanted to handicap themselves by exclusively using the best Korean options available instead of just the best options available.

It's not always about Meowth, Bulbagarden... It's about the Mets, baby, love the Mets! Alright baby let's go, get a home run baby, love the Mets! Let's go Mets!

I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds this amusing.

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

GO GUARDS WOOOO I LOVE TEAMS NAMED AFTER BRIDGES (seriously it should’ve been the rockers after the rock and roll hof… or at least something better than guardians… but I digress)

Shoutout to Cleveland for having the most fucking insane logo I have ever seen before the change in 2018 lmao.

 

[Princess Viola]

I'm also gonna say it, this isn't logical. It doesn't matter if MLB teams are far better and richer or would theoretically beat any team from another nation, it's still a domestic competition in essence. Calling yourself world champions without allowing international teams in your competitions is American arrogance imo.

The winners of the Champions League don't call themselves world champions either when it's clear Europa is the dominant (financial) force in football. It is fair to say the UCL winners are the strongest team in the world, no one could really argue against that. Nevertheless, in order to gain the title of world champions they have to win the Club World Cup (previously Continental Cup), usually against the South American champions. Yes, the European teams win almost every time nowadays, but at least they still compete for the title intercontinentally.

Baseball is also a sport played across continents with strong domestic competitions as well. Reminder that Japan won the WBC against the US with players who played in the NBP. The teams in those leagues can never be allowed into the MLB, meaning that there's no chance to even attempt to win the world champion title. Makes no sense. Furthermore, not only the top teams play a role in the road to the championship. For example, they still need to beat the weaker teams throughout the season to rack up wins in order to make to the playoffs. Can you say the weakest MLB team would beat the winners of the Korean or Japanese league every time? If not, why can't they compete for a place to enter into the league and grow stronger there over time while those American teams can? Because it's a domestic competition that bars teams from other nations to play even a single competitive game against them by default regardless of their relative strength compared to even the weakest MLB teams.

If all teams from all continents except for one are unable to compete to be world champions, what does that title really mean? You are the winner of the strongest and richest league in the world of that sport. That's the truth. You might argue you could rightfully call yourself the best team in the world. However, excluding most of the globe in the so-called "world championship" is an antithetical exercise.

Looking at a smaller like korfball (doubt you heard of it but that's the point), there's practically only two competitive nations that compete for the world and European championship title every edition with their club teams in the final of the European championship every year. Very little exceptions. This is an even clearer example of certain leagues and nations completely blowing the rest of the world out of the water in a certain sport. In fact, the matchup in the final of both the world championship and European championship has been the exact same on all but 2 occasions.

Clearly, whoever wins that matchup in whatever competition is the strongest team in the world at that time. The same could be said for the club teams from their respective nations. So does the winner of that matchup in the European championship final call themselves world champions after proving themselves to be the best in the world beyond doubt? No, they only gain the right to call themselves European champions due to the nature of that competition. Sound logic. Again, same story for the club competitions.

Why do you think in world or continental championships of almost any team sport the teams are seeded so one can't win the title without facing opponents from other continents or nations? Because it's a global competition, no matter what region is perceived to be superior. If you think the logic I laid for you doesn't apply specifically to the American club baseball league, I'd argue that is in fact American arrogance (or at least American exceptionalism) and is demostrating a lack of knowledge of world sports competitions. You don't have to agree, but this is my conviction. Face the world first before you claim to have conquered it.

None of this is my problem.

MLB is the premier league of baseball in the world and their champions are the world champions. Basically everyone who actually cares about baseball as a sport acknowledges this and the only people who don't are people who don't actually care about it.

I'm also not American, I'm Puerto Rican so.

 

[Blast]

Interesting to see my post was either misunderstood or outright dismissed from the comments I see here. I'd suggest reading my post again and try thinking about without your preconception of the MLB compared to other sporting competitions. It's easy to say those who have a different view based on a wider understanding of sports are clueless, that was the idea I gleamed from the post I responded to in the first place. I acknowledge that's your opinion so stand by it if you want. I'm trying to broaden the conversation beyond simple dissmissal of disparaging thoughts. It's ironic that in a discussion about the one-sided view of a domestic "world championship" that excludes outside opponents my views don't seriously get considered before they're blown off with the reasoning that I'm not embedded (enough) in that sport itself. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Those who have valid opinions are knowledgable and agree with me, and those don't are irrelevant and ignorant. I don't subscribe to this way of thinking myself. Again, I'm not asking for a consensus, I'm inviting deeper exploration of the beliefs you hold onto so tightly on this topic.

They also had a few mlb players, including this one lesser known guy… Shohei Ohtani? Idk, probably isn’t that good.

Anyways I think the reason that world champion of baseball does still work is that MLB is a world league in the sense that players from all over the world make up MLB rosters. A lot of players, arguably some of the best players, are from Asia or Latin America. Yes, international leagues from also have great players which play in their home country’s leagues. But a vast majority of the time, a competitive MLB team will attract and draft premier talent from all over the world. Thus, this competitive team which eventually wins the World Series will have players from multiple national origins, and will be not just the national champions, but the world champions.

How is this different from PSG winning the UCL with a team strengthened by Morrocan, Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Korean and Senegalese players against Arsenal who field Brazilians and Ecudorians in turn? This is the same arguement from the original post I responded to so I suggest reading that section of my reaction again. You say recognise the skill present in international, yet you treat any non-MLB side as essentially a feeder team for a league they can't challenge in any way to claim the title. This could make sense, but my arguement that there's no direct competition for the world crown still stands. Also, this is my first time hearing about Ohtani. Do you believe me when I say that? Or not?

No, because the worst MLB teams don’t try to win. A salary floor is needed for this argument to work… and for the MLB to work. And a salary cap too.

I made this point to show teams that are theoretically stronger than those that play a role in the championship have no way of participating. Not saying they should or that'd be logical for the MLB. Because it's the American league, not the world championship.

Can you imagine the hell it would be for east coast teams to travel to play this supposed Japanese or Korean team? Yeah Mets just travel to Japan after a rough 3 game series… make sure you get back fast too, the Yankees are waiting for you back at home! And vise versa especially, with this hypothetical team spending half their games overseas. TBF, I could see a Dominican team or something similar working out in the mlb just based off of geographical factors and regional popularity…

Also, if this hypothetical team entered into the MLB as an expansion team, it’s not like it would continue to be, yknow, an all Korean team that is also in the MLB. They would also take part in the draft and sign players from all around the world, unless they wanted to handicap themselves by exclusively using the best Korean options available instead of just the best options available.

Again, I don't argue foreign teams should be allowed into the MLB. That example was a way to show how competitive teams from outside of that league could never participate in a so called "world championship" solely based on their geographical location. This is the reason the actual world championship for most sports only take place over a short period of time with a regional qualification system, with the final tournament usually held in one primary hosting location. I also understand that in a team competition players from different nationalities get recruited regardless of where that team is from. As I said, this is no different in basketball or football.

None of this is my problem.

MLB is the premier league of baseball in the world and their champions are the world champions. Basically everyone who actually cares about baseball as a sport acknowledges this and the only people who don't are people who don't actually care about it.

I'm also not American, I'm Puerto Rican so.

You're repeating yourself here, and I read your post the first time. You can read my response again if you wanna know my position on what you're saying for the second time now. I never said you were American either, but one can still be influenced by the idea of American exceptionalism if they're not from the US. I'm not from there and clearly I'm still grappling with that concept in this conversation. Also, you can outright say that you think that basically I don't care about baseball as a sport, without hiding it in a generalised statement. I'd say voice your assumption about me loud and clear.

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

I was going to say I didn't expect my silly thread to get so heated but to be fair I did make it about a genre of sports.

On a less serious note here's a dorky little baseball league I made up for my Pokémon world based around a fictional AU country of "Metsu" that includes Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh as like, countries within a country, kind of like the UK. (Edits have been made)

Inner Metsu League​

Kanto​

The Viridian Rockets
The Saffron Masters
The Vermilion Thunder
The Celadon Spinners
The Cinnabar Eruptors
The Pewter Brains

Johto​

The Goldenrod Rangers
The Ecruteak Rainbow
The Blackthorn Draconics
The Olivine Merchants
The Violet Sages
The Cianwood Whirlpools

Outer Metsu League​

Hoenn​

The Rustboro Smelters
The Sootopolis Roots
The Fortree Webslingers
The Mauville Future
The Lilycove Beauties
The Mossdeep Invaders

Sinnoh​

The Jubilife Heights
The Hearthome Bakers
The Oreburgh Treasures
The Sunyshore Will-O-Wisps
The Veilstone Meteors
The Snowpoint Blizzards

 

[Pigrider09]

Damn this feels like I’m playing mafia

Also, this is my first time hearing about Ohtani.

He’s uh. Pretty good. 4 MVPs so far, which is the second most ever. He’s pretty much a hall of fame lock and will likely go down as an all time great.

Unfortunately he currently plays for the baseball equivalent of the devil, so it is hard to root for him.

Do you believe me when I say that? Or not?

Man idk. I’m sorry if I misinterpreted your post but I tried to be respectful in my response. Sorry if I came off any other way.

How is this different from PSG winning the UCL with a team strengthened by Morrocan, Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Korean and Senegalese players against Arsenal who field Brazilians and Ecudorians in turn?

I don’t know like, anything about football/soccer so this comparison is kind of lost on me .

But I do think comparing baseball and football in this regard is kind of comparing apples to oranges. Unlike some sports like American football, baseball has more than one region where it’s pretty relevant in, but isn’t truly global. I’d say for team sports the same is true for ice hockey (which I know more about than baseball so I’ll use it to help make my points) where the best of the best come from North America and all over Europe, but not many come from other countries. Soccer (to my understanding) is truly worldwide. Every major country has a team and many have their own leagues. Great players come from anywhere and everywhere. There are multiple worldwide leagues with similar pedigree (at least at one point) so of course one league doesn’t call their champions the world champions. I layed out what I feel like are the arguments for some different sports premier leagues being called the world champions.

American football: only one country has teams and most players are from the USA, but no other countries would care if they were called world champions.

Football: It is truly a worldwide sport but there are multiple “best” leagues even if one is technically surperior.

Baseball (and Hockey): Has one massive league which includes two countries and has an international player pool, but there are other major leagues and the game isn’t truly global.

Huh . A bunch of maybes. I guess I can see your argument. If it’s not everyone, it’s not everyone. I guess that’s what makes best on best stuff like the Olympics, World Cup, WBC, and Four Nations Faceoff so popular, since it’s as close to a world champion as we can get. But even then, that’s a two week long event, not a whole drawn out season with roster construction, contracts, the whole shebang. I think I do still lean more towards calling it the world champion though, just because there are indeed multiple countries in the MLB in both teams and player representation, and just calling it the MLB champions or the continental champions sounds really lame and underwhelming. But, now that I have thought about it more in the context of something I know better, I can see where you’re coming from.

I was going to say I didn't expect my silly thread to get so heated but to be fair I did make it about a genre of sports.

On a less serious note here's a dorky little baseball league I made up for my Pokémon world based around a fictional AU country of "Metsu" that includes Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh as like, countries within a country, kind of like the UK.

Inner Metsu League​

Kanto​

The Viridian Rockets
The Saffron Masters
The Vermilion Thunder
The Celadon Spinners
The Cinnabar Eruptors
The Pewter Brains

Johto​

The Goldenrod Rangers
The Ecruteak Rainbow
The Blackthorn Draconics
The Olivine Merchants
The Violet Sages
The Cianwood Whirlpools

Outer Metsu League​

Hoenn​

The Rustboro Smelters
The Sootopolis Roots
The Fortree Webspinners
The Mauville Future
The Lilycove Beauties
The Mossdeep Invaders

Sinnoh​

The Jubilife Heights
The Hearthome Bakers
The Oreburgh Treasures
The Sunyshore Will-O-Wisps
The Veilstone Meteors
The Snowpoint Blizzards

View attachment 244123

LMAO I like how a few of the team names are normal, actual major league sports teams, some are kinda wacky wnba type team names.



And then you have the celadon spinners. Peak naming.

 

[staticmoth]

Hi everyone, we understand that discussions about sports often get passionate and heated. But please be mindful to be respectful and civil when voicing disagreements. Thank you~

 

[RTLfan]

I've always liked the aesthetic of cricket. I'm new to baseball since I'm from Europe but I like it a lot and I think I prefer softball actually.

 

[Meowth's Number One Fan]

I've always liked the aesthetic of cricket. I'm new to baseball since I'm from Europe but I like it a lot and I think I prefer softball actually.

I have no clue what the difference is between softball and baseball. I assumed the ball was like, soft, but I felt one at Dick's and that thing is hard as hell. And very yellow.