Convince me that baseball is more entertaining and a "better" sport than hockey.

Sorry I was unable to complete the last few rounds because I was in the hospital. This is what I started writing for round two but I will restart the debate with PRO in a few days when I am back to normal.--- I would like to rebut a few of your points. I have also played baseball so I know where you are coming from with your arguments, but what I have trouble understanding is what is so challenging about baseball. I will reiterate later. 1. "A pitcher needs to throw 90-100 mph pitches, so that he can strike out a player, or make it extremely difficult to hit a single, double, or triple. This requires a great amount of practice, arm strength, and speed, added in with an accurate throw. Also, realize that a pitcher must throw the ball into a relatively miniature box over the home plate." -- A baseball is 5 oz and is pitched between 80 and 100 mph and requires strength, speed and accuracy because the baseball needs to fit into a relatively small box over home plate. I agree with all of this, however, I feel that the objective of hockey players is similar, but more difficult. Like in baseball, a hockey puck is 5 and is shot between 80 and 100 mph, which requires strength, speed, and accuracy because the puck needs to fit into a very small space between the pads of the goalie and the posts of the net. I feel that this is more difficult because of the shot to goal ratio compared to the pitch to hit ratio in baseball. In hockey, the typical save percentage of a goalie is about .90 and the typical batting average in baseball is around .250-.350. The goalie save percentage shows the greater difficulty of scoring compared to the success of pitchers making strikes against the average batter. Simply, it is harder to put the puck where it needs to go compared to where the baseball needs to go. 2. "Pitchers also need to learn various, special types of pitches and memorize them and use them effectively in a real game." --I feel that pitchers have a great deal of the pressure put on them for the outcome of the game. Their performance is what depicts the score. He picks the pitches, throws them, and is the one responsible for making the hitter guess at their pitches. However, I feel it is a weak argument that the learning and memorizing of the pitches makes his job that much more difficult. Knowing how to properly throw the ball is key to being a successful pitcher. Tim Lincecum is my favorite MLB pitcher right now, because he has such a large repertoire or different pitches. Just because Tim has learned the pitches doesn't mean that makes him successful. He knows how to throw and when to throw the pitches and also needs to know the context of the situation (for example, a successful pitcher needs to know what to pitch in a 0-2 count versus a 3-1 count and how the base runners shape his decision.) With all that being said, pitchers only make up 1/9th of the team on defense. I feel that the responsibility of the fielders is way less than the amount that is placed on the pitcher. I must disagree with some aspects of this point though. I feel that hockey players depend on each other more so than baseball players. Hockey players are constantly changing between playing offense and defense and need to be well versed in both. Typically in baseball, the pitchers are not good hitters, and thus are not great on offense. Hockey players need to have skill sets that make you good at both offense and defense. On a side note, I feel that baseball caters to the needs of the pitchers. In the American League, the pitchers don't even go up to bat. Instead, they have a designated hitter to fill in for him on offense. This is not true in the National League but some collegiate organizations have taken up this rule in some manner. Pinch-hitters, designated batters, and pinch runners are what change the game of baseball in a negative fashion because it allows for specialized substitutes instead of well rounded athletes who shouldn't be excused from the sport. Hockey does have a "free substitution" aspect to it, but I will give a few situations to drive my point home. Suppose Kirk Maltby of the Detroit Red Wings is tripped from behind on a break away, he deserves a penalty shot. Now, if the NHL played by the AL MLB rules, the Wings could pull a "pinch break away" and put Pavel Datsyuk in instead of Kirk Maltby because Datsyuk is much better at penalty shots. I feel that it would take away from the game of hockey to allow the specialized players to fill in whenever they were needed. Unfortunately, there are not that many chances for that to happen because there are considerably less stops in play for hockey compared to baseball. 3. "In "spring training," a period of time before the baseball season in which a player gets into extreme shape and increases his fitness level, players must work hard to develop upper body strength, leg speed, and accurate throws. This training is not easy at all." -- Fitness is very important in every sport. Baseball has "spring training" where baseball players train, however, the sport itself is less physically demanding than hockey. Hockey players that