Why is it in professional baseball after a game, the players only "hi-five" themselves??

Question

In pro basketball and football which is much more physical and players could easily have ill fillings about a hard hit.. it's all good as they say. Players are congradulating themselves and joking around with players from the other team.. that's good sportsmanship. Heck even in little league players congradulate the other team.. what the heck is going on in baseball?? I've been told it's done "behind the scenes" what ever that means.

Answer 1

In football and basketball, the teams rarely interact prior to the game, so the only opportunity to show good sportsmanship is after the game. This is especially true because in each of these sports, the teams play once every so often. In baseball however, there is a lot of time for teams to interact prior to the game and because its a series of anywhere from 2 -4 games, they are able to interact that many more times. If you watch batting practice for most teams you will generally see the players from the two teams chatting it up, goofing around, etc. together while they are warming up. Because of the mentality of football, this pre-game interaction is discouraged because it gives the appearance that the players are not focused on the field.

Another reason is the time issue. Baseball players generally arive to the stadium six hour prior to game time to go through all the pregame routines. Add to that a 3+ hour game and these players have been at work for 9+ hours, and just want to go home. Football and basketball players generally arrive 2-3 hours prior to game time, so they are at work for a lot less time once the game is over. And football and basketball players dont have to worry abt playing the very next night again.

All that being said, it would be nice if they did shake hands with the other team after the game as well.

Answer 2

I am guessing it is because a baseball game usually ends with the losing team in the dugout.

Unless the home team scores the winning run in their last at-bat (a walkoff RBI hit for example), the games ends when the losing team makes their final out. This could be a losing home team making their final out in the bottom of the 9th or the losing visiting team making their final out in the top of the 9th. Either way it means the winning team has much of its team on the field and the losing team could have as little as 2 coaches and the batter left on the field. Since the teams exit the field via their own dugouts (where most of the losing team is already located), there is no reason for the teams to cross paths.

In most other sports, both teams are already on the field at the same time when the game ends or they typically cross paths on the way to the exit from the playing field. Even in Little League, you have the common exit from the field instead of dugouts.

Answer 3

It's all about tradition, it never happend in the past and it won't happen now. You will see a lot more comradery before the game starts and away from the ballpark but not during or after the game. It's only been about the last (20) years that a defensive player and base runner would even look at each other let alone talk to one another as they do now. Give them time, I see the "hi-five" coming to baseball around the year 2030.

Answer 4

Have you ever been to a MLB baseball game they always do it they just dont show it on tv b/c they cut the cameras off right at the last out. And in the other sports they keep the cameras rolling.

Answer 5

they do it in basketball with opposing players more *because* it is a sport with a lot of physical contact -- if you high-five (or something similar) an opponent after you more or less ran him over, its a way of saying "hey, no hard feelings, right?"

Answer 6

They do shake hands. Have you ever seen an actual game, or just on tv? They have sportsmanship. moron.