Does it make sense for Vulcans to be into baseball?

[JonnyQuest037]

Just an idle thought I had contemplating Deep Space Nine's "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" the other night, Although this thread was inspired by the DS9 episode, I wanted to throw the question out to the general Trek fandom, since most every Trek fan has an opinion on Vulcans. Hence the thread's placement here.

Does it make sense for Vulcans to be into baseball? Baseball isn't decided on intelligence or logic. There's only a bit of strategy to it (batting order, deciding who plays what position, when to switch pitchers or take a player out of the game, etc.). And luck is a pretty huge factor. It just doesn't seem like a game that would appeal to Vulcans in general. Chess, poker, even football, I can see Vulcans developing an appreciation of. Those games are more technical and have a larger number of potential outcomes. But baseball? Not really.

I know that it was just a fun change of pace episode, and the Vulcans were the designated "evil team" because it made sense for the Niners to be underdogs in terms of physical strength and playing ability, but would Vulcans really get into baseball? I don't think so. What do you think, folks?

 

[BillJ]

I don’t see it any differently than Asian countries or those in Latin America getting into it.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I thought that was the dumbest thing ever that a Vulcan thought the best way to prove himself racially superior was to win at baseball.

The only part of baseball it makes sense for Vulcans to like is sabermerics.

 

[Tosk]

If a Vulcan felt the need to show their superiority, what better way to do it than to best humans at a human sport? Vulcans value logic, but they don't automatically base every single decision they make on it. Otherwise, explain their fashion choices.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think we've seen from past experiences that Vulcans aren't always so stuffy and that some have been known to occasionally engage in activities that others (namely Humans) would probably consider "un-Vulcan." Captain Solok likely only got into baseball because of his rivalry with then fellow cadet Benjamin Sisko at the Academy and wanted to see what Sisko saw in the sport. By the time Solok was captain of the T'Kumbra, baseball had likely become as much as a favorite hobby for him as it had for Sisko--although Solok would probably never admit it even under torture.

I tend to liken Solok's interest in baseball as akin to some Americans from deep in the US heartland being into British TV shows or Japanese animation.

 

[Tim Thomason]

I thought the point of the episode was that Solok wanted to beat Sisko at baseball because Sisko was the one who liked it so much. The Vulcans and Solok couldn't care less about baseball. In fact, here's a direct quote from the episode:

He doesn't care about baseball. All he wants to do is rub my nose in it one more time. But now he is using my game. My game!

Solok had a fascination with human emotionalism, and because he knew Sisko from their pseudo-rivalry in the Academy, knew what to expect when he challenged him to a baseball game during his ship's shore leave. I think he also wanted to relieve some tension (in a very minor way) from his crew and give them an easy win during the devastating war.

 

[Finn]

Why not? I’m sure some Vulcans are into sports from Denobula, Betazed and/or Bolarus IX as well...

For all we know, Tuvok dabbled in a sport from Talaxia in secret

 

[Prax]

I was gonna say Solok isn't very logical, but perhaps his whole "rivalry" with Sisko is really just an act, and he's actually conducting a dispassionate, long-term study on human nature, and he has to "get into character" when he torments Sisko. Solok chose baseball because his human case study is Sisko.

 

[at Quark's]

For all we know, Tuvok dabbled in a sport from Talaxia in secret

The one Holodeck program Tuvok protected with even higher level security encryption codes than Insurrection Alpha

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

What doesn't "make sense" is how they crammed 2 teams into 1 holosuite, playing hundreds of feet from one another.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was gonna say Solok isn't very logical

With all that gloating and smirking, I don't see how he could be anything else.

 

[1001001]

Does it make sense that anyone is into baseball??

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Does it make sense that anyone is into baseball??

grrrrrrr.....

 

[Tenacity]

Does it make sense for Vulcans to be into baseball?

Does it make sense for Vulcans in general and Solok in particular to be colossal racists?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Just an idle thought I had contemplating Deep Space Nine's "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" the other night, Although this thread was inspired by the DS9 episode, I wanted to throw the question out to the general Trek fandom, since most every Trek fan has an opinion on Vulcans. Hence the thread's placement here.

Does it make sense for Vulcans to be into baseball? Baseball isn't decided on intelligence or logic. There's only a bit of strategy to it (batting order, deciding who plays what position, when to switch pitchers or take a player out of the game, etc.). And luck is a pretty huge factor. It just doesn't seem like a game that would appeal to Vulcans in general. Chess, poker, even football, I can see Vulcans developing an appreciation of. Those games are more technical and have a larger number of potential outcomes. But baseball? Not really.

I know that it was just a fun change of pace episode, and the Vulcans were the designated "evil team" because it made sense for the Niners to be underdogs in terms of physical strength and playing ability, but would Vulcans really get into baseball? I don't think so. What do you think, folks?

They love statistics.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

They love statistics.

My favorite answer yet.

 

[The Wormhole]

About as much sense as it makes for Klingons to be into Shakespeare. Or Romulans into Roman mythology. Or Ferengi into root beer.

 

[Nerys Myk]

About as much sense as it makes for Klingons to be into Shakespeare. Or Romulans into Roman mythology. Or Ferengi into root beer.

Romulans are into Roman mythology? Is that a thing?

 

[The Wormhole]

Romulans are into Roman mythology? Is that a thing?

Their homeworld is named Romulus, its neighbouring planet named Remus.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Their homeworld is named Romulus, its neighbouring planet named Remus.

That’s on the writers not the characters. They also brought us a planet called Vulcan. Spock has a Greco-Roman bust in his quarters Maybe all Vulcanoids are into Rome?