Well, I'm inclined to agree with Questdog on this one. Baseball is more physical than, say, golf, but it is by no means a grueling form of competition (with the exception of performances by catchers and the arms of pitchers, as has already been said). Golf is one of the least physically demanding pro sports there is, yet how many golfers play in every tour tournament? If memory serves me correctly, Tiger Woods plays in about only half of the tourneys and is known to skip some in which he usually competes, from time to time. I'm sure that he benefits greatly from this time off and most likely plays better than he would had he not skipped the competition. Otherwise, why not play? I'm sure that he's more likely to play in events with larger purses, but that's not always a factor in choosing them.
Anyway, the above may not have been the best example, but I personally have one that is pretty darn good. I rowed for UCLA's crew team my first year there, and ended up being the 7 seat by about half-way through the season (our 8 seat was a port, so, in this case, being the 7 seat would generally mean that you're the top starboard). We rowed 6 days a week from October until right around the end of May, with twice-a-day practices on Monday-Friday, races on Saturday. The practices in the morning usually began at 5:30 while the afternoon practices (usually on the ergs) began at different times (due to most guys having conflicting class schedules). I don't know if any of you ever tried crew, but I have to say that, out of all of the different sports in which I've competed, it is by far the most taxing; physically and mentally. Along with water polos players, rowers are the most all-around in-shape athletes at any university. Bar none.
Now, that being said, I can relate it to this thread. Phew! Despite the amazingly taxing rigors of conditioning almost every single day of the week (and sometimes it was even 7!), not missing any practices or meets, suffering through blisters the likes of which only God has seen, our performances at the end of the season were far better than they were at the beginning or middle. I realize that this is largely beacuse crew relies heavily on improvements in conditioning, but if the human body weren't capable of enduring, and recovering from, the constant daily punishment by such a sport, then even the effects of a better-conditioned cardiovascular system would be negligible and the athlete's performance would gradually wane as the season's end drew nearer.
Okay, pro baseball and rowing are two different sports. One is more physically demanding than the other. And one relies a little bit more on hand-eye coordination than the other. Hand-eye coordination is much more susceptible to mental fatigue than brute strength and performance is greatly reduced or improved even by a very slight adjustment. I'd say that it's a given that being a professional athlete is emotionally draining, and that there are innumerable factors (many of which we may be unaware) that contribute to this. I'd say that it is this mental and emotional fatigue that, along with injuries suffered earlier in the year, are the greatest detractors from a baseball player's performance. I mean, just think of how much more exhuberant a player must be at the beginning of a season compared to the end of the season. It's probably the same as with anything, an academic school year, a weekly poker game, sex (hmmmmm. . . . unsure about this one) -- you're much more hyped and enthusiastic going into it than when you're nearing its conclusion.
Meh, I'm not sure if my overly-long and verbose posting has made any sense or swayed any of you. Oh well, let the flaming begin!
