# Is baseball the most complicated sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 29, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858 "2008-11-29T00:29:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/21 "2008-11-29T15:27:52Z")
The Rules of Cricket You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out. When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game! I forget who originally compiled this bit of humor, but it’s all over the place now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/22 "2008-11-29T15:41:49Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > No, the most complicated is [Calvinball.](http://www.bartel.org/calvinball/) No, Mornington Crescent is. It’s one of those games where it only takes a few minutes to become a master, but learning the rules can take a lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/23 "2008-11-29T16:37:01Z")
> [@UnwrittenNocturne](#): > > Ever tried to explain LBW to anyone? I have. Although your comment about commentary made me miss Henry Blofeld Oh, \*Explaining Cricket To Americans \*is a hobby of mine, and LBW’s not that hard to explain. Read the spoiler box if you really want to know. [spoiler]The guiding principle is that only the bat should be used to protect the wicket. If anything else - usually the (padded) legs - should get in the way, the fielding side may appeal to the umpire to give the batsman out. Any of the following exemptions will result in a Not Out verdict (all questions of fact are decided by the umpire): - The delivery was a No Ball (thrown; or like a foot fault in tennis) - The ball would have missed the wicket, whether to either side or above - The ball contacted the bat first - The ball pitched outside the line of the leg stump (the side the batsman stands). (This is for play balance - to ensure there is a downside for continually aiming everything at the batsman’s legs from a wide angle, which is unreasonably difficult to bat against and dull to watch) - The point of interception was outside the line of _off_ stump (the side opposite where the batsman stands - he can and usually does move his feet in play) _and_ the batsman was attempting a shot with the bat. (Play balance again.)[/spoiler] > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, Mornington Crescent is. It’s one of those games where it only takes a few minutes to become a master, but learning the rules can take a lifetime. True. The group I play with can spend many a merry hour arguing over the precise definition of Nipsy - although we all know it when we see it, of course! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/24 "2008-11-29T17:24:57Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Oh, \*Explaining Cricket To Americans \*is a hobby of mine, and LBW’s not that hard to explain. Read the spoiler box if you really want to know. I was just hoping to see what LBW stands for. No clue. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/25 "2008-11-29T17:34:20Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I was just hoping to see what LBW stands for. No clue. Leg Before Wicket. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/26 "2008-11-29T18:26:30Z")
> [@Booker57](#): > > 43-man Squamish anyone? Pfft, that’s a kid’s game. The real challenge is mastering Three-Cornered Pitney. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/27 "2008-11-30T04:00:40Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, Mornington Crescent is. It’s one of those games where it only takes a few minutes to become a master, but learning the rules can take a lifetime. I firmly believe that the refusal of the IOC to include _Mornington Crescent_ in the Olympic Games line-up is purely because the last person who tried to codify all the rules, precedents, and tournament rulings of Mornington Crescent’s long and colourful history ended up in a Guatemalan Insane Asylum. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/28 "2008-11-30T04:36:11Z")
Many Americans I met in England (including of course me, as I even captained a team) understood cricket. I never met an Englishman who understood American football. Even slightly. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/29 "2008-11-30T04:43:36Z")
They are [The **Laws** of Cricket](http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/) not the rules and there are only 43 in total. Mostly they are in pretty plain English and easy to understand. I have an umpire’s qualification and there are very rarely decisions that the average fan doesn’t understand. I can only recall a couple of occasions where I had to explain decisions to players and scorers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/30 "2008-11-30T15:08:39Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I confess that I don’t know much about soccer. Is it really just hockey on grass with a ball? Do they handle penalties the same way? Can a soccer team be short a player for a certain time? Do they have the same sort of rules regarding who is allowed to be where on the ice/field? I was under the impression that hockey and soccer were quite different. If anything, I realize that soccer is probably a lot more complicated than I thought. Soccer has all those things. You can be shorthanded, there are offsides rules, so on and so forth. But that’s not really what I was getting at. The details aren’t the point, the point is the CONCEPT. Soccer and hockey can have long or short rulebooks, but the concept of the sport is extremely simple; you shoot the ball/puck into the net. The team that does it the most wins. You don’t really need to know the other rules to play the game at a fudnamental level; when I was a kid and we got together to play road hockey, we didn’t understand offsides rules, two-line passes, penalties, and all that crap. Playing some road hockey, you don’t need those rules, you just play. The idea was just to shoot the puck into the net. Same with soccer. Basketball is a BIT more complex in that you have to get into the concept of dribbling. Baseball is, at a conceptual level, much more complex - in fact, it’s much more conceptually difficult to grasp than cricket, IMHO. A basic understanding of the concept of baseball, even for kids to play T-ball, requires an understanding of the purpose of the bases and home plate, the strike/ball system, when the ball is in play vs. out of play, fair territory, force plays, and the like. Football is like that, too - to play it you’ve got to at least understand the concept of plays from scrimmage, downs, and all the other stop-start stuff the sport throws at you. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/31 "2008-11-30T19:24:50Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I can only recall a couple of occasions where I had to explain decisions to players and scorers. OT: I once stood in as a fill-in umpire in a game in Los Angeles where, until I had to make a very close run-out call, nobody noticed that there were two lines marking the crease boundary. I’m not sure even the Laws covered that eventuality. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/32 "2008-12-01T00:34:31Z")
Since Fizzbin isn’t a sport, I’ll agree with American Football. I watched for years and am kind of a rulesy sort of watcher (I always pester everyone around about calls and rules), and I still didn’t always know who was legally in motion, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/33 "2008-12-01T10:40:58Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Many Americans I met in England (including of course me, as I even captained a team) understood cricket. > > I never met an Englishman who understood American football. Even slightly. They refuse to try! For some reason, because their basic premises are similar, Englishmen think American football is ridiculous because it is inferior to Rugby. (And vice versa, of course, though there are a lot of rugby fans in the US.) I never understand this attitude. Its like scoffing at racquetball because it’s worse than squash. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/34 "2008-12-01T17:22:36Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Its like scoffing at racquetball because it’s worse than squash. There are people who do that too. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/35 "2008-12-01T18:57:42Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Since Fizzbin isn’t a sport, I’ll agree with American Football. I watched for years and am kind of a rulesy sort of watcher (I always pester everyone around about calls and rules), and I still didn’t always know who was legally in motion, etc. I fully encourage you to start a thread on it. I’ll do my level best to help, and I’m sure our fellow game roomers would too. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/36 "2008-12-01T19:32:00Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Cricket’s actually a pretty straightforward sport Then may I have a simple and straightforward explanation, please? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/37 "2008-12-01T19:44:47Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > I fully encourage you to start a thread on it. I’ll do my level best to help, and I’m sure our fellow game roomers would too. Nah. I don’t watch football any longer. I stopped when the Browns left town and never bothered picking it back up. Baseball was always my sport anyway. I wouldn’t even remember what issues I ever had, frankly. But thanks for the offer! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/38 "2008-12-01T20:20:52Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Then may I have a simple and straightforward explanation, please? A guy pitches the ball, and you hit the ball and until the fielders can get to it and get it back to the infield, you and a runner run back and forth between the two wickets. Every time you do that safely, you score a run. That’s basically the sport. It’s like baseball with just two bases. If you watch it with that mindset, the sport’s pretty easy to follow. The guy hits a ball and starts running between the bases. There’s the simple explanation. Rules and terminology are voluminous on top of that, just like baseball, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/39 "2008-12-01T20:32:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > A guy pitches the ball, and you hit the ball and until the fielders can get to it and get it back to the infield, you and a runner run back and forth between the two wickets. Every time you do that safely, you score a run. That’s basically the sport. > > It’s like baseball with just two bases. If you watch it with that mindset, the sport’s pretty easy to follow. The guy hits a ball and starts running between the bases. > > There’s the simple explanation. Rules and terminology are voluminous on top of that, just like baseball, but there it is. If a hit ball is caught in the air by the fielders, the batter is out and another takes his place. When ten outs are made the batting team takes the field and the fielding team tries to score more runs. A batter can also get out if the ptched ball or his bat hits the wickets, if he blocks a ball with his body that would have hit the wickets, or if he is caught “off-base.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858/40 "2008-12-01T21:10:46Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > Another vote for (American) football. I mean, who the heck knew about that free kick rule that Arizona took advantage of last Sunday? I did! Actually used it once in an APBA Football game when I was in high school. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-baseball-the-most-complicated-sport/474858.md?page=1)