A commentary by Roland Watson in the Times Online asks what an Australian baseball glove and the game Twenty20 have in common? Twenty20 is a special three-hour version of cricket.
The more interesting qualities that Twenty20 shares with its transatlantic cousin are subtle and rhythmic. Baseball is hugely watchable because the game changes after every pitch. When the ball leaves a pitcher's hand it is destined to be either a ball, a strike or a hit, and each has direct consequences.
Because Twenty20 has only 120 deliveries in an innings, (about the same number of pitches thrown in nine baseball innings), the import, and therefore the excitement, surrounding each is enhanced.
But the real similarity is La Russa's point. Baseball is a constantly snappy, aggressive, intense game. It does not meander. You play hard or you lose. The same now goes for cricket in all its forms, to the great benefit of spectators.
And rugby will overtake the slower paced NFL in the states...
Cricket is Australia's national sport and this twenty20 game is nothing more than a way to get more Cricket into their sport mad lives. Take the similar situation with Australian Rules Football and traditional Rugby which are both played and held in high esteem.
I read the original article in Times. The author has over-reacted to the success of Twenty-20 format. Such formats have been in place in one form or other for a longtime. I understand both sports very well. Believe it or not, 20-20 has more actions and thrills than a Baseball game and also very fast paced. If properly marketed ...20-20 has the potential to make it big in the USA. In that case, baseball will have to make necessary changes which I believe is due for a longtime.
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If slowness is the problem, baseball isn't the solution.
Or some of those A's games when La Russa managed. Those games always seemed to last forever.
Or some of those A's games when La Russa managed. Those games always seemed to last forever.
Cricket is Australia's national sport and this twenty20 game is nothing more than a way to get more Cricket into their sport mad lives. Take the similar situation with Australian Rules Football and traditional Rugby which are both played and held in high esteem.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.