1. Cardiovascular training: From running around the field, you will exercise Cardio, which strengthens your heart muscle and improves lung capacity. Being an outfielder or batter, you will get get short bursts of cardiovascular exercise, from running the bases, outfielders running to catch a fly ball and catchers chasing a foul ball.
2. Strong arms: You will strengthen your arms by swinging a baseball bat, throwing the ball and catching the ball. Those are all are good ways to build arm strength and improve joint flexibility. Throwing balls around and swinging the bat will involve all the muscles of the arms, including the biceps, triceps and the muscles of the chest and shoulders.
3. Strong legs: By playing baseball you will strengthen all of the major muscle groups in your legs. Moving laterally, throwing and squatting down to retrieve a ball engages your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles. Running, in particular, is not only a good cardiovascular workout, but also ideal for toning and building up your leg muscles.
4. Hand-eye coordination: Pitching, fielding and batting requires a great amount of hand-eye coordination. Improving your hand-eye coordination will be a benifit for life and a basic skill usefull for all kids.
5.Burn calories: Baseball will surely amp up your metabolism and burn calories. Baseball is active, allthough it looks "slow paced". all the Swinging, running, catching and even walking to and from the dugout are exercises that will burn calories. According to MayoClinic.com, a person who weighs 160 pounds can burn 365 calories an hour playing baseball. And we all know a baseball game is never only an hour...
6. Stress relief: Getting involved in a game of baseball develops mental focus, concentration and refreshes the mind from everyday distractions.
7. Benefit for youth: Kids who take part in youth sports like softball and baseball are more likely to live longer, have fewer health issues, avoid substance abuse and attend college.
8. Overall fitness: According to the Sports Fitness Advisor website, a professional baseball player tends to be lean, with a body fat percentage of between 8 and 9, and able to run 60 yards in less than seven seconds.
9. Sunlight: Baseball is typically played outdoors, where players are exposed to sunlight, which is a great natural source of vitamin D. Sufficient amounts of daily vitamin D intake are crucial for your body to be able to absorb and metabolize calcium and phosphorus.
10. Sharpen the mind: Making split-second decisions on which is the correct strategy to implement on a certain play can help keep the mind sharp and alert.